Come and Gone
by Dally's TwiSider
Summary: Atlana Reynolds, and orphan, has lived with the Curtis's for as long as she can remember. She and Dallas develop a relationship, rocky at best, that changes her perspective of everything, but when the events of the book happen, her world falls apart.
1. A Day in the Life of a Common Greaser

**This is the final draft of Come and Gone chapter 1! YAY! I can't wait to hear what people think of the new version. It's not too different, but it's a little more '60s oriented with more slang (when Ponyboy says that Steve was trying to 'ball' Lana, he means that he was trying to seduce her, which is what I said in the earlier version. I thought it felt more true to the time setting so I changed it) and smaller words so everyone sounds more like a teenage delinquent. XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TheOutsiders. S.E. Hinton does.**

"Wake up."

"No."

"Wake up!"

"No!" and then he threw a pillow at me.

"Goddamnit Soda can't a girl get any sleep around here?"

"Why? Were you workin' on your beauty sleep? 'Cause you sure do need it!"

"Dammit Soda! You're such an ass!"

"Whoa, watch it girl. Talkin' like that won't get you a boyfriend!"

"Piss off Soda!"

"Hey, what's all this yelling about?"

"Pony! Save me! Soda's beating me with a pillow!" I said in my most dramatic tone possible. It was the same every morning, with only slight variations. Sometimes Soda would pour water on me or shake me, but all in all it was the same.

I walked into the small bathroom and turned the hot water for the shower on, after I used the bathroom and undressed, I stepped in. The water was scalding, but it felt good on my freezing skin. It was always cold in my room, no matter what I did to try and change that, it was. I guess it was just one of those little weird things in life that you have to accept. I washed my hair and body, and grabbed a towel before I stepped out. I was sixteen, and living with three guys can make a girl paranoid like that, even though none of the guys ever tried anything.

I looked at myself in the mirror and just stared. People call me conceited sometimes because I do that, and maybe I am, but I'm just trying to make sure it's still me. That I'm still Lana Reynolds. I'm still the equivalent to Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy's sister. Our lives had been spinning out of control lately and it was all I could do to hang on. I'm not a weak person, and the gang knows that, but I am still a girl. And we can only take so much.

I carefully wrapped the towel around me so that nothing was showing. I ducked my head out the door, looked both ways to make sure no one was coming, and ran for it. I made it to my room and grabbed my clothes that I had picked out last night, quickly put them on, and walked into the kitchen where I smelled eggs. I sat down and waited patiently for my breakfast to be served to me. I didn't control the boys, they babied me. I was the only girl in the house and they treated me as if I was a delicate porcelain doll. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had done the same thing all my life. I had never known any else. My parents died when I was a few months old, and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were my Godparents, so they took care of me. When they died, Darry became my foster parent. It was convenient because a social worker had to stop by to check on Pony and Soda anyway, so it saved money on gas.

"Lana, will you help me?" Ponyboy had just walked into the kitchen with a very confused look on his face and his math book in his hand.

"Come here Pony, I'll help you," I was a grade above Pony and a math genius. I helped Pony with his math and he helped me with English. It was a good trade off.

"Breakfast for m'lady," Darry put my plate on the table with a deep bow, "and here's yours," he said putting Pony's plate on the table indifferently before he walked away.

"Hey, why does Lana get all the special treatment?" Pony asked exasperated.

"Because I'm a lady," I said and started shoveling eggs into my mouth. I've always been a big eater, but it doesn't show.

Pony had a review packet he was working on for class Monday, and he couldn't remember a thing when it came to math. It was really simple stuff for me, and it didn't take me long to explain what was confusing him. He finally got to where he understood and put it away for a while. I proceeded to eat my breakfast.

"Good God Lana, have you eaten this week?" Soda asked when I was halfway done with my obnoxiously large second helping. I simply glared because my mouth was too full for a retort.

"I'm done," I stated after I chugged my third glass of milk.

"Where 'ya goin' Lana?" Darry, he's so oblivious. I simply stated that I had to go to the bathroom and left. I had everything, except my toothbrush, in a pink box decorated by yours truly. I put on my mascara, foundation, and blush and walked into my room to put on my socks and shoes. I didn't wear too much make-up, especially eyeliner. I didn't want to wind up looking like Angela Shepard.

"Atlana! Get out here! We're gonna be late!" Darry was using his infamous "father" voice.

"Coming!" I yelled irritated. We were meeting the gang to just walk around, Pony was probably going to sneak off to the movies like he usually did, but I was debating whether or not to go see Robbie. We had been hanging out for a while now and he still hasn't asked me out and I wasn't going to wait much longer.

I walked into the living room to find Soda and Steve wrestling. It was typical but I was already annoyed.

"Guys!" I screamed and everyone stopped and looked at me, "Seriously? Steve let go of him," he had Soda in a headlock, but quickly let him go upon my command, "you're gonna break something, again."

"Gosh Lana, why are you yelling?" Soda asked concerned but scared at the same time. I could be very frightening when I wanted to be. When you live on our part of town, you have to learn fast.

"Yea, what's wrong with ya?" Steve asked while he poked me in the stomach.

"Steve!" I yelled glaring. That really hurt.

"Geez, what's wrong with…oh," Darry said finally realizing along with everyone else what was wrong with me. I hung out with guys so much that I was almost treated like one. Almost. But they often forgot about basic female bodily functions.

"I like 'em feisty. They're better that way," Steve said while he leered at me. He's such a man-whore. Usually I would have just smarted-off to him, but today I decided to play along.

"Is that so?" I asked sexily while doing the age-old chest lift, "Come here," I requested, beckoning with my finger. When he didn't immediately come I slowly and sexily walked the few feet towards him. I gave him the sexy eyes before whispering directly in his ear "Piss", and then screaming, "OFF!" He instantly recoiled and fell to the ground. Darry cleared his throat and then I realized they were all staring at me. I put a look of mischief and triumph on my face before speaking, "We're gonna be late." I had these guys wrapped around my fingers, but I only exercised my power when I absolutely had to. They would come running to help me anyway, so it usually wasn't a big deal.

"Um…yea. Two-Bit and Dally are waiting," Soda muttered while he walked towards the door. Pony and Darry agreed and shuffled to the door while Steve glared at me and followed. I closed the door and turned out the light as I exited.

The walk to the park was uneventful. We saw a couple of Soc's but the ignored us because we were five and they were two.

"What took y'all so long?" Dally asked when we arrived.

"Steve tried to ball Lana but she didn't go for it," Steve started glaring at Pony because of his answer and Pony instantly backed down.

"Good job Lana. You might just be a greaser after all," Dally said joking. Everyone knew I was as much of a greaser as any of them. They just didn't let me show it as often as I would have liked.

"Well, Pony's answer isn't exactly true but I won't get into the gory details just now. Where's Johnny?" I asked. Johnny was always with the gang. Always.

"He said he'd be a little late so he's gonna meet us at the Dingo," Two-Bit answered.

" Is he going by himself?" I asked astonished. No one, especially Johnny, and me ever walked anywhere alone.

"Nah, I'm gonna wait for him," Two-Bit replied. He started talking animatedly with Darry, Soda, and Pony so I walked over to Dally to talk to him. I used to be intimidated be the tall, brooding, god with movie-star good looks, but now he was just another one of the gang, he was just a little bit colder.

"You haven't said much," It was a statement not a question, but it's always hard to start a conversation with Dally.

"That's not a question," he said as if reading my mind, " If you want to know something ask a question," Dally's voice was ice-cold but I could see the faint glimmers of mischief in his eyes.

"Okay then, well that answer lets me know that Tim didn't hurt you that bad in last night's fight." He let out a breath that had a little laughter in it.

"Nah , I'm okay. Tim barely laid a hand on me."

"Well that's good. It would be horrible for us to loose such a good fighter."

"Yea, the Soc's might win a rumble if I wasn't there."

"They're leavin' us. We better go," I said turning to leave.

"Lana!" I turned around quickly to see Stacy, my best friend.

"Stacy!" I screamed and ran to hug her. "What are you doin' here?" I asked excitedly.

"I'm meeting Jazz at the park. What about you?" Jazz was short for Jasper, but everyone called him Jazz, partly because of his name, partly because he was such a good musician. They had been seeing each other for a while, but Stacy was hoping they would start going steady.

"I'm hangin' with the guys today," I answered.

"Oh, well, I gotta go. Jazz is waiting on me," she said, smiling dreamily.

"Well, bye then," I said before we hugged goodbye.

"Lana hurry up. Ya gonna get left," Soda yelled as he walked away from me with Darry. I turned to follow and I noticed that Dally was following right behind me. I knew how he was with girls, but I didn't mind much because he and I both knew what my brothers would do if they tried anything. Besides, he doesn't like me; he just likes to look at me. He even admitted it.

. . .

The rain cut our walk short. Johnny and Two-Bit caught up to us at the Dingo just like Two-Bit said. While we were there it started drizzling so we decided to leave before it got bad. The walk was quick and wet. Pony and I talked about school and sunrises and things like that. He was the only person who I could talk to about things like that. I talked with Pony, cried with Soda. I was right in the between Soda and Pony in age. I have lived with the Curtis's since I was three months old. My parents and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were best friends growing up and had promised each other that they could name each other's first born. That's how Darry has a normal name and I got stuck with Atlana. I didn't mind much because it was unique and made me fit in with the boys. Darry's the only one with a normal name in our family, if you didn't count Steve (which I usually don't, especially if he's being annoying). Living there can be stressful, but it works out pretty well because I share the best qualities of all the guys. I have my mother's leadership qualities, which made me similar to Darry, and my father's carefree attitude, which made me similar to Soda. Pony was like me because of his sensitivity. I was older so you could say that living with me for so long had rubbed off on him, but because I was the only girl it was often forgotten that I was older than anyone. They treated me like a princess and I was okay with that, but growing up with three boys makes you tough. I was as good a fighter as any of the guys, I ate just as much, sometimes more, but no matter what I did it always seemed as if I had a big sign around my neck that said: I'M A GIRL! MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER THAT! I think it was the boobs. Yea, it's defiantly the boobs.

Once everyone was finally inside I excused myself to go change. Being a girl in a house full of boys and being wet did not mix well. I chose my black t-shirt and a new pair of jeans. My Chuck Taylors were soaked so I just kept my socks on; I could always snuggle up to Soda if I got cold. He always seemed to be warmer that the room when ever I was cold. When I walked back into the living room, everyone was involved in an intense conversation. I had to clear my throat three times before I got their attention.

"Okay, anyone gonna tell me what y'aller talking about?" I asked exasperated.

"Go on Steve, ask her!" Two-Bit was nudging Steve. Oh God, if he's gonna ask me out, I've got two words for him: hell no.

"No man, you ask her. I'm already on her shit list," Steve looked at me with a mixture of hate and I'm-scared-out-of-my-mind-right-now plastered on his face.

"Fine. Lana we have a question. Which do girls like best, kissing their neck, or just plain ol' kissin'?" Two-Bit asked seriously. I blinked a few times while the whole room waited for my answer.

"Well," I began uncomfortably, " it kinda depends on the gir-," Suddenly, Pony jumped up and screamed 'I TOLD YOU SO!' "-girl," I finished my previous sentence, "but generally kissing our neck is a favorite. We're not really sure why, but our neck is just a sensitive place that we like to have kissed," as I finished that statement I was aware that Dally wasn't sitting in our living room, but right behind me.

He moved some of my hair out of the way as he whispered, "So if I do this…" he trailed off and started kissing my neck. At first it was just a light pressure, which was enough to send butterflies to my stomach, but it quickly turned into him all but sucking my neck.

"O-oh God," I mumbled. My knees were turning into Jell-O, the butterflies started kicking my insides. I closed my eyes, which were until then as big as saucers, and felt my head roll to the side to allow better access. I suddenly felt hair in my hand. Apparently it had curled up into his head. I realized that I wasn't even aware of my actions as my hand closed around a clump of his hair. It seemed to last forever and I honestly didn't want it to stop. I opened my eyes and saw that everyone was staring at me in shock and disbelief, everyone except Darry. He looked like he was about to kill Dally.

"D-Dally, st-st-stop," I stuttered. It took me another moment to clear my head enough to separate his lips from me. I turned and stared into his eyes in shock, my hand still entangled in his hair, and he stared right back, a smug look on his face. Then I slapped him with the same hand that was just wrapped in his silky, golden locks. "Son of a bitch," I stated angrily while Dally gripped his face in surprise and what appeared to me real pain. I turned and walked out to my room. I threw myself on my bed and just laid there. I had always felt a connection with Dally, but it was only indefinably bigger than my feelings towards Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny which was only slightly smaller than the brotherly love I felt towards Darry, Soda, and Pony, so Dally was somewhere in between. Dally and I were both different, accepted into the group but an over-all outcast. He was from New York and I was a girl. The two scenarios were totally different but they gave us a similar feeling, like at any moment we were expected to break away. He was accepted better than I was because he was a boy anyways. I was the true outsider. I had never considered loving Dally, or even considerably liking him for that matter. I had made a promise to Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, Darry, Soda, and then finally to Pony that I wouldn't date anyone from our group, and the other guys had a completely understood that if they tried anything, my brothers would kill them. Dally had stepped way over the line, I could only imagine what was happening to him. I hoped they didn't kill him. The last thing we need is the police snooping around here. But, the feeling of his lips against my neck, my hair entangled in those beautiful flaxen locks. His perfect, pink, round lips. The intensity of his eyes as they stared back at me. I could look into those eyes forever. Get lost in those eyes. No, stop it. This is Dally. Dallas Winston. Dallas Winston. I repeated his name over and over, each time with a different infliction. Love, sorrow, lust, disgust. It was different every time.

When I had finally calmed down enough, I walked back into the living room, only to discover that everyone was still there and in the same spot they had been in when I left. I sat as far away from Dally as possible, which just so happened to be on the floor with Pony and Johnny. I curled up beside Pony on his right with my head on his shoulder. He put in hand in my hair and stroked it, in a loving, brotherly way. It was something that always calmed me down. Johnny was sitting beside Pony on his left; I liked Johnny, always have always will. He was sort of like a lost puppy that you just had to take home with you, everyone felt that way but I think the mothering side of me made the feeling stronger. I constantly felt the need to hug Johnny, as if it would make it all go away, but at this point I needed the comfort of a brother.

Everyone continued their conversations as if nothing had had happened. Dally only gave me a few leering glances which I quickly shot down with a glare. I was happy to see what would soon become a bruise around his left eye. Soda glanced over at me from across the room and then suddenly a weird look crossed his face.

"You have a hicky on your neck," he quickly said and continued to stare at me.

"You're shitting me," was all that I could say, "You mother f-"

"Lana, language," Darry said sternly, silencing me. I was already too angry to give a retort, or even finish what I was about to say. I tried to get up so that I could hit him again, but Pony and Johnny held me back. They finally let go and I stomped off to examine my neck, and sure enough, there was a hicky. "Shit," I was gonna KILL Dally!

**So what did you think! Tell me PLEASE! Reviews make me happy which makes me want to write and the more I write the more (and longer) chapters I put up. Which makes everyone HAPPY! So let me know. CON STRUCTIVE CTITICISM is APPRECIATED! FLAMES are NOT!**


	2. Window Pane

It was after dinner and I lay on my bed, not even trying to go to sleep. Soda had cooked because Darry got called away around three for a roofing question and hadn't gotten home in time to eat with the rest of us. Soda's macaroni-and-cheese was actually and surprisingly good, but recently milk products haven't been settling very well with me. God, I hope I'm not getting sick or anything. Darry can't afford to take me to the doctor right now; we're barely making it as it is! These thoughts were interrupted by a knock. Not on my door like a normal knock, but on my window. I got up and walked over to the window, but I crashed into several things before I got there though. I was almost asleep before whoever knocked on my window. I finally saw who it was and gasped audibly.

"Steve?" I asked incredulously. It was Steve Randle. Steve Randle damn it! "What the hell was he doing at my window at this godforsaken hour?" I was still pissed about earlier today, and this just added to my stress.

"We need your help," he said, not even noticing how angry I was.

"What? What do you mean 'we'? If this is about some loser at Buck's I'll-"

"It's Johnny," he interrupted me. I softened instantly.

"Where is he? Why didn't you just take him here?"

"We didn't want to move him. You'll see what I mean when we get there," normally I would just say 'who says I'm coming?" but this was Johnny. It didn't matter if he was in Texas, New Mexico, or even Canada, I'd find a way to get to him.

I quickly opened my window and climbed through. It was only a few more weeks 'til school started so it was warm and I didn't need a jacket. I glanced at Steve while we walked, about to ask him a question when I noticed. "Steve, you're hurt," I stated astonished. It hurt me when any of my friends were injured, even ass-wipes like Steve.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he said, not even slowing his stride. He had a four-and-a-half-inch gash running from his hairline to his jaw on his right side, going across his eye.

"Well it looks horrible, let me look at it," I said firmly, getting in front of him then walking backwards.

"No, Johnny needs it more than me. He's the priority."

"Well right now you're here, so you're the priority,"

He paused, deliberating, before he continued walking.

"It will take a second. I just need to see if-"

"We're here," he interrupted solemnly. I turned around and saw that we were near Dally's house. I looked around quickly to find Johnny. It was then that I heard the whimpering.

"Oh my God," I said breathlessly and moved closer. "Who did this to him?" I asked, my anger rising. Johnny was a good kid who got beat up by his parents a lot. Anyone who would do this to Johnny didn't deserve to live, and I knew everyone here was thinking the same thing.

" 'Couple 'a Socs in a blue 'Stang," Dally answered through his bared teeth. My anger flared and I felt the need to punch something. Why does this always happen to us? Those damn Socs are always beating on us, but this time they went too far. This was Johnny. His parents ignored him unless they were yelling or punching him. He had never done anything to them, or anyone for that matter. I calmed myself down before quietly examining the already broken teenager. His face was swollen with several cuts littering his tanned forehead and cheeks. He would have two black eyes tomorrow and probably some scars. His left wrist was severely sprained if not broken, and his shoulder had come out of its socket. His shirt was torn to pieces so I didn't worry about it as I ripped it open to reveal his sculpted chest bruised and bleeding. Only his left leg didn't appear damaged, his right was torn in places in his jeans with a growing bloodstain.

"I need some scissors, a first-aide kit, a needle and thread, and two cloths, one dry and one wet," I gingerly moved my finger across his face to move his long, almost black hair away, and he moaned in agony. "And some painkillers or liquor. Not both," I added. "Hurry up!" I commanded when they just stood there. Two-Bit and Steve rushed into Dally's house to retrieve the items I requested. Dally stayed, so I asked him about what happened.

"Johnny was in the lot, lookin' for our football when a car full showed up. They started beatin' on 'im. Two-Bit and Steve were walkin' to your house from a party when they heard them. They ran to help but were outnumbered, even with Two-Bit's blade. One of 'em pulled a knife on Steve. They finally chased them away, but not without gettin' pretty beat up themselves. They managed to carry him here and Two woke me up and said that Steve had gone to get you," I looked up at him and saw that he had turned away from Johnny. Dallas Winston had been in jail so many times that they put a revolving door in jail of whatever town he was in. he wasn't afraid of anything or anyone. But it was Johnny that caused him pain and made him afraid to see. I got up and turned to him, looking directly into his eyes. They were cold and blue as ever, but deep in them held the emotion he was feeling. I opened my mouth to speak, to say something of comfort, when Two-Bit and Steve came back outside with everything I had asked for.

"There weren't any painkillers so I grabbed a bottle of vodka," Two-Bit said a little too loudly. He probably had a swig or two himself.

"That's fine," I said seriously, returning to Johnny. I took the scissors from Steve's outstretched hand and quickly cut off the right leg of his jeans. What I saw horrified me. It was worse than I had thought. The entire front of his thigh was shredded to bits with almost no skin on it. I would have just given him stitches, but there was no skin to sew up. The audible gasp resonated in the absolute silence of the night, I vaguely wondered who the gasp came from but the thought was pushed away.

"We have to get him to a hospital, I can slow the blood for now, but he won't get any better unless he gets to a hospital," I felt Dally cringe beside me at the mention of a hospital. Greasers don't usually show up there unless it's bad, and Johnny was really, really bad.

It was silent for a moment as everyone processed my demands. They were still except for me. I was trying to fix Johnny.

"Hold the cloth on his legs, keep pressure on it," Dally did as I asked and Johnny groaned in pain.

"Here you go Johnny, this'll make it better," Two-Bit said gently as he poured the vodka into Johnny's slightly elevated mouth.

"Steve, go to the hospital and let them know Johnny's coming. Tell them he's really bad," I had get Steve out of here. He was in too much shock for him to be any use. Steve ran in the direction of the hospital and I returned my attention to Johnny. Dally was keeping pressure on Johnny's leg, but Two-Bit was drinking the vodka. I slapped his arm.

"You gotta leave some for Johnny, Two." I said Two-Bit just snorted and kept drinking.

"There's a whole 'nother bottle in the cab'net," he slurred, the new alcohol buzzing the already drunk greaser.

"Well then make yourself useful and get it," I was beginning to get irritated with Two-Bit and his drinking. "And make sure you leave some for Johnny!" I yelled as he walked away. Dally and I sat there for a moment in silence before I sighed. "Why does this happen?" I asked rhetorically. "Why? Why Johnny? Why?" I broke off, realizing I was crying. I never cried, not in front of people at least. I suddenly felt a hesitant, yet comforting hand on my back. I turned to Dally and saw and uncertain and strange warmth in his eyes. One of his hands was on my back with the other still pressing on Johnny's leg. I moved into him and let the tears flow. He was holding me against his chest with one hand, and I clung to him as I sobbed. Dally wasn't a comforting person and I could tell he wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew. Dally was showing emotion, something that never happens. He rested his cheek on my head and rubbed my back, trying to calm me down. The sobs were becoming less frequent and I could finally feel and think. Two-Bit had probably found the vodka and was drinking Dally dry. Dally wound probably me mad later. Our breathing was becoming synchronized and I had stopped crying. We were holding each other. Dallas Winston and Atlana Reynolds. And it felt as natural as eating chocolate cake everyday.

The perfect moment was broken my Johnny's cry.

"We need to go now," I said, removing myself from his grasp. "Keep pressure on his leg," I reminded him as I wiped my eyes. Two-Bit staggered out of the house, bottle in hand.

"Help me pick him up, but-"

"Keep pressure on his leg. I know," he had his usual 'serious face' on. Two-Bit walked up to us, talking too loud.

"Hey y'all! Here, lemme help…" he trailed off, struggling to help pick up Johnny. He could have, but he was too drunk to put any effort into it, so I picked up the slack.

"Thanks Two," I said sarcastically. Had most of Johnny's weight on me, not that he was heavy, he was just bulky. Dally relieved me of some of my burden, and we quickly jogged to the hospital. It wasn't very far away, so we made it there in just a few minutes.

The inside of the hospital was stark white and smelled of antiseptic. There was a doctor waiting there, along with several nurses holding a hospital bed.

"This is Johnny Cade, he got beat up. His right leg is really bad," I said as I set him on the bed with Dally's help. Two-Bit stumbled over to a chair and sat down. I could tell he would be down for a while. I could feel tears forming in my eyes as they whisked Johnny down the hall, but I blinked them back. Dally moved to my side. It wasn't the physical comfort that he had previously shown, but it was good enough.

"What time is it?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

"Two somethin' I guess," he answered nonchalantly. Of course the time wasn't a big deal to him. Of course.

"Damn, no wonder I'm tired."

"Where's Steve?" Two-Bit hollered from his chair. Apparently he had woken up. A really drunk Two-Bit was going to be hell in this hospital.

"Yea, where is Steve?" Dally asked, feigning interest.

"I'll ask," I said with a sigh. It wasn't that I wasn't concerned about Steve; I just wanted to go home and back to sleep right now.

I asked the nurse in the nurse station where a Steve Randle was, and she told me that he was with a doctor right now getting stitches for his face. I walked back to where Two-Bit and Dally were sitting and plopped down in the empty seat between them. I realized that I had forgotten to thank the nurse, but I honestly didn't care. Johnny was back there somewhere. He was probably in pain and confused, but more likely scared. He had seemed out-of-it while he was lying on the ground. I wondered if they had put him to sleep or something. Steve was back there too. He had probably explained everything and that was why nobody had asked us any questions. Soda was probably at a party right now. Pony and Darry were most likely asleep like all other normal people. Soda would freak out when he saw that I wasn't in my room. I should call. Tell them where I am. I'd be in big trouble otherwise, but I didn't want to call. I wanted to lie down and sleep for months. I'll get someone to call for me. Later. After I sleep. I curled up against Dally who instantly stiffened. I set my feet on Two-Bit, who was already asleep. Dally relaxed and adjusted himself so that my head was comfortably rested on his thigh. I began drifting off and Dally patted my head.

"Sleep," he whispered. I nodded.

"Call Darry," I requested sleepily.

"Hell no," he answered, "I'm not gonna die tonight."

I snickered, "Wake up Two-Bit then."

"You just go to sleep. We'll let Darry, or Soda, or someone know you're okay."

"Mm-hmm," I mumbled before sleep enveloped me in its warm and inviting embrace. I didn't dream. For once, nightmares didn't terrify me or cause me to wake up screaming. I fell asleep in the arms of the toughest greaser who had promised to look after me and let my family know I was all right. It seemed no strange coincidence that this night was not broken by screams of anguish and fear. Dally was here. It was almost ironic that the greasiest greaser who had been in and out of jail too many times to count kept away my nightmares, but he did. I wasn't in love with Dally, I was floating above the ocean of loves as I had always been, but my ship had struck and iceberg, and the U.S.S. Atlana was sinking. Faster than I would have liked.

* * *

"Where is she? What happened? Who-oh my God," Someone was yelling. Loudly. Who was yelling? Why were they yelling? Where was I? Who was I with? These were my thoughts as I lay half-asleep, enveloped in warmth. I wasn't totally awake, until everything came flooding back. Johnny, broken, in the hospital, his leg, Steve, stitches, everything.

"Darry, stop yelling. Why are you yelling?" Soda, I think. He sounded irritated, a rare occurrence for Soda. It must be early.

"Atlana Reynolds. What are you doing?" Darry was in father mode. I slowly and unwillingly opened my eyes. All I saw was black. I touched it, it was a t-shirt. Dally's t-shirt. I tried to sit up, but was constricted. Constricted by strong arms. Dally's arms. They were wrapped around my torso, pulling me against his chest. I tried to pull away but they only tightened. He must still be asleep, or he has a death wish. "Dally," I stated, "Dally, wake up," I tried to speak, but not sure it was coherent. "Dally-" I was cut off by Darry.

"What's going on Lana?" He insisted.

"Help," I requested quietly, but that was all the incentive he needed. He instantly pulled me out of Dally's grasp. I stumbled a bit before leaning on Soda for support. Dally woke up with a start at my sudden movement. He calmed down and a confused look got stuck on his face.

"Now," Darry began, "anyone care to explain what's going on?" he asked to no one in particular before turning to me. "Why weren't you in your room?" he asked, his eyes blazing with anger and shimmering with relief.

"Steve, he knocked on my window. He said he needed help. It was Johnny. He got beat up by Socs. He's really bad. We took him here. Steve got stitches but they took Johnny away. I fell asleep. I'm sorry," I was still dazed so my explanation was short and confused. Tears started to form when I talked about Johnny, and I was too tired to fight them. I turned into Soda's shoulder and cried, not like I had with Dally, but enough to freak everybody out. Soda wrapped his arms around me, unsure.

"I'm so, so sorry," I whispered.

"Shh, shh. It's fine. Darry's not really mad. He's just relieved," he whispered back. Soda had always known me best. Being the same age (pretty much) did that to people. I often went into his room to talk. After a while Mrs. Curtis said we couldn't anymore because we weren't little kids anymore, but I went anyway. I didn't like Soda like that, even though he was extremely hot. He was like my brother, and he would never try to pull anything.

"Where are Steve and Johnny?" I asked when I had calmed down.

"Johnny's in a room and I think Steve's in there with him," Soda answered in my ear.

"Let's go," I said pulling away to walk to the nurse's station. Soda let go and followed, but when the nurse said that Johnny could only have two visitors at a time, he sent me on my way. I walked down the long hallway to room 39. It was a small hospital because we lived in such a small town, but it was still weird that Johnny was in room 39. It was his favorite number.

I pushed the door open gingerly and poked my head in the rom. Steve was asleep in his chair and Johnny was trying not to laugh at his obnoxious snoring.

"Hey Johnny. How are you feeling?" I asked quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Steve.

"As good as can be expected," he answered solemnly.

I nodded. I walked over to the other chair in the room and pulled it up to his bed. "When do they think you'll get out?"

"As soon as my leg heals."

"Well how long do they think that'll take?" I asked getting frustrated. I hate cryptic answers, Johnny knows that.

"A week or two, maybe."

I nodded again. We sat in silence, listening to Steve snore.

"Thank you," he said after a while.

"For what?"

"For helping me."

"It was-"

"Don't say 'nothing'," he interjected, "the doctor said that if you hadn't helped, I would have been a lot worse off."

"You're already pretty bad off Johnny. I don't think you could get much worse."

"They said I cudda lost my leg," his eyes were boring into mine now. They weren't cold like Dally's were, but warm, like melted chocolate. His expression wasn't mad or angry, or even smart-allecky like some of the other guys would have been. He was frightened, but anyone would be. Johnny was delicate. He was constantly on edge, always on the brink of disaster, but he held on. He held on us, for the gang.


	3. Open Window, Open Heart

**I do not own ****The Outsiders****. Enjoy chapter 3!**

Johnny was in the hospital for a week after that. I visited him everyday, along with Dally. We didn't plan it, but we wound up walking together. We talked about fights, and Buck's, and the rest of the guys, but never Johnny. It was hard enough, seeing him in the hospital, we didn't need to talk about how bad off he was.

The visits were short because talking with people made Johnny tired. Sometimes afterwards, Dally and I would visit Soda and Steve at the DX, other times we would stop by the Dingo and get something to eat. A couple of times Dally picked up some girl and left me there, but I always managed to find someone to walk me to the DX, or bum a ride off of them. It's not a good idea to walk somewhere by yourself, even though I'm a girl. The Soc's don't usually jump girls. Usually. I'd had a few close calls in the past, but I always managed to fend them off until someone came to help me. That was how I met Robbie.

This Soc drove up beside me in his car, got out, and grabbed me. I got in a few good hits before Robbie came. He could tell that I could handle myself, so he did take over completely. That was what I liked about him; he respected me as a greaser. He knew that I could probably beat him in a fight, even with his blade. Two-Bit had long ago taught me how to disarm someone. If you did it right it could save your life, and had on a few occasions.

* * *

"I'm hungry," I complained jokingly. I knew it got on Darry's nerves to complain, so I always did it in god humor.

"We'll eat when Soda get here," he replied, his eyes not moving up from his newspaper.

"But it's gonna get cold," Pony whined obnoxiously.

"Then we'll put it out on the porch to warm it. I told ya, we ain't eatin' 'til Soda gets home," Oh Darry, the sarcasm is very much appreciated.

"Well when is he getting' off?" Pony asked.

"Whenever he gets off," Darry stated, starting to get annoyed.

"Well when's that?"

"Whenever his boss says so, now shut it," and that was the end of that discussion.

Soda walked in shortly thereafter, and we all ate. The moment we had finished the rest of the guys came in. Two-Bit was telling Steve some story about a broad he had picked up at Buck's and the fights he had gotten in because of her. Apparently, he really liked her. Two-Bit could be such a freak sometimes.

Dallas came in too. He was talking to Johnny, about what I didn't know. He glanced at me briefly, but then went back to Johnny. I excused myself and went to the bathroom when Darry glared at Dally. I would have to remember not to drink so much chocolate milk. I sat on the toilet for a while, just thinking. What was I going to do about Dallas? I couldn't fall for him. That was not an option. Just keep telling yourself that Lana.

After I was finished in the bathroom, I walked back into the main part of the house to find everyone sitting, watching Mickey. I was relieved that Dally was still there, that way we wouldn't have a repeat of the last time. I decided to tempt fate and sit beside him, sort of. Dally was on one side of the couch with Soda on the other, with plenty of room for me between them. I nestled myself in the spot, closer to than Dal, and Soda automatically put his arm around me. I curled my feet up on the couch and they were almost touching Dally. Almost.

After a while, Soda and Steve got restless and started wrestling. I leaned backwards and laid my head on Dally's knee. He ignored me for a minute before he absentmindedly played with a piece of my hair. No one was paying any attention to us, which I think is why he was showing even this miniscule display of affection. Darry was too absorbed in Soda and Steve's wrestling match, making sure they didn't break anything. Two-Bit was watching Mickey and was dead to the world. Pony had apparently escaped to his room to avoid the chaos in the living room, and Dally was here, with me. Playing with a strand of my hair as he watched the other boys fight. I might as well have been floating through the air. With each gentle twist my heart soared. Every time he combed it out with his finger a neighborhood of butterflies had a street party in my stomach. It was sensational. Not because of what he was doing, but because he was doing it. Dallas Winston was here, on my couch, playing with my hair as my head rested on his knee. I adjusted myself so that my head was completely in his lap. He seemed startled by the sudden movement, s I looked up at him. I couldn't read his expression, if you could call it that. He was staring down at me, almost contemplating me, but not quite. He was staring. It wasn't expressionless because there was animation in his eyes, but it was a look I had never seen before. I would say it was a loving look, but I had seen that look far too often with Soda and Sandy. While I contemplated his look, his hand moved to rest on my cheek. I felt the world stand still. No one was there except Dally and me. He head tilted as if asking a question. My breath caught in my throat, but I was snapped out of my trance by Soda's yelling.

"Say 'Uncle'!"

"Never!" Steve replied as he flipped Soda onto his back.

"Alright boys, break it up," Darry said calmly. Steve and Soda were too evenly matched, the fight could go on indefinitely. I instantly sat up. I didn't want to hear the torment from the guys, or Darry's lecture about how men are pigs, especially the ones we hang out with. Once was bad enough. I yawned and got up. "I'm going to bed," I announced. "Don't kill each other," Their mumbled replies were barely heard because I was almost at my door. I opened it, leaned against it, and slid down to the floor. I ran my hands through my hair and rested my forehead against my knees. What am I going to do?

* * *

I slipped into my bed and relaxed. It had been a very stressful day and I wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. If only wishes came true. The same obnoxious banging that had occurred on the night that Johnny was jumped disrupted me. If it was Steve again, he was dead. I unwillingly got up from my bed and walked slowly over to the window. I looked out the window and almost screamed. It was Dally. Dallas Oh-my-God-you're-shitting-me-right-now Winston. Outside my goddamn window. What the hell?

I opened the window in one swift and furious motion. "What the hell do you think you're doing here Winston?" I only call people by their last name when I'm mad. I either call them by their last name, or their full name, but I hadn't needed to do that in a while. I only do it when I'm extremely pissed.

"I came to see you," he said before he leaned his upper body inside my window and connected his lips to mine. The electricity between us crackled. His hands moved to both sides of my face, to hold me there. My hands moved to his neck, to bring him closer to me. I was slightly higher than him because he was outside my window, but he quickly stepped up to fully enter my room, never once breaking our connection. Once he was inside he spun me around so that I was against the open window. He removed his hands from my face and pulled the window shut. He pushed me against the window and molded his body to mine. My hands moved from his neck to twine into his hair. He moved his hands from the window and traced the sides of my body from my ribcage down to my hips, where they stopped. His tongue requested entrance, but I didn't grant it. Instead, I broke apart so I could speak.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Winston?" I asked breathlessly trying to clear my head while at the same time trying to retain some of the anger I had felt just moments before.

He looked directly into my eyes, his deep blue against my hazel. "Kissing you," he said before leaning in once more.

I turned my head and he stopped. "Yea, but why?" I asked.

"Well Lana, why do you kiss people?" he asked sarcastically. He was getting irritated, but I didn't care.

"I know why I kiss people. And I know why you kiss people. But I want to know why you're kissing me," the only reason Dallas Winston kisses girls is because he wants something, and I do believe we can all figure out what Dallas Winston wants with girls.

"Why are we having this discussion when there are much better things we can be doing right now?"

I pushed him away disgusted. He kept walking backwards until he reached my bed. He sat down on it and watched me. I was still leaned against the window, to afraid of what my actions might be if I moved. We were silent for a minute or so. Just watching each other. The distance between us was almost unbearable. I wanted to run to him. Have him hold me, kiss me, be there with me. He smirked as if he could read my thoughts. I took that as an invitation. I rushed him and my lips smacked into his. My hands moved through his hair securing his face to mine when they reached the back of his head. I felt one of his hands move down my back while the other one moved through my hair. I realized that I was straddling him. He was pressed against the wall. He suddenly moved forwards and moved us so that I was against the wall. Dally always had to be in control. Always.

The moment was ruined when I heard a noise. A creaking floorboard. "Dallas, stop," I said, turning my head away. "Someone's up." The realization hit him and he got up. He swiftly walked towards the window and opened it. He glanced back and smirked before he left. My heart melted, and Soda walked through my door.

**Read and review!**


	4. Fifteen Minutes

**Well, first off, I would like to say how sorry I am about how late this chapter is. I was on a school trip to Washington D.C. last week and this week was dance team try outs (I didn't make it **** ) and I didn't have time to update. So, in order to make up for the lateness, I am putting up TWO! Count 'em TWO! Extra (yes EXTRA) long chapters for y'alls enjoyment. So… ENJOY!!**

"Can I come in?"

"You're already in Soda. Now what do you have to say? I'm tired, I wanna go to bed."

"You want to go to bed with Dally you mean,"I froze.

"What are you talking about Soda?" I asked trying to keep my composure.

"I know he's here Lana. I heard him," Shit.

"Well he's not here, so you don't have to worry."

"But he was here."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I care about you Lana! And I'll be damned if I let you fool around with Dally."

"I know what I'm doin' Soda."

"Do you? Do you really? This is Dallas Winston."

"Yea, I know this is Dallas Winston. And he's not the person you think he is."

"Not the person I think he is? Lana, have you met him? He fights, he steals, he sleeps around. He's gonna hurt you."

"Soda, he's not-"

"Yes he is," Soda interrupted. God, can I not finish a statement around here?

"Soda, listen to yourself! Do you hear what you're sayin'? you sound like Darry," Tears were beginning to form in my eyes. Soda never gets angry, or even upset. This was a totally different side of Soda, one I had never seen before and didn't know how to handle.

"I know. I just… I worry about you Lana. I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you," I hugged him after his last statement. I started crying and he held me in his arms. We used to always do this when we were younger, but recently, I hadn't come to him about things like this. Stacy and Donna, and my other girl friends had become closer to me. For some reason, I felt better telling girls about my problems concerning boys even though I had grown up around boys and had told them my problems all my life. I had missed Soda. I had missed him listening to me as I vented my feelings. He was always such a good listener. He never judged anyone. He was one of the best people I knew.

"I don't want you to get hurt," he said, his voice cracking because of his tears. Soda was always very emotional.

"I won't," I replied, still crying. My answer was a lie. The moment I realized I liked him I knew I would get hurt. Maybe not now, or tomorrow, but someday, I would get hurt. And there would be Soda, not armed with an 'I told you so!' like everyone else, but armed with a big hug and consolation because that was Soda's way.

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Dallas wasn't around the next day. Not that I minded or anything, I needed time to think. I couldn't be sure that Dally liked me. I could tell he lusted after me, but actual feelings? Unlikely. But the night Johnny got hurt, the way he held me. And just last night in the living room. I knew I wanted him to like me, but the actual possibility was slim to none. Slim to none. Slim. That means there's still a chance.

I decided to visit Johnny. He was supposed to be coming home today and I wanted to see him before the others. I suppose you could call me selfish for that, but I don't care. I am me. Take it or leave it.

When I finally arrived at the hospital, it was around noon, so Johnny was eating lunch in his room. He waved at me and moved the tray away. I sat down in the chair next to him.

"How are ya feelin'?"

"Great," he replied honestly.

"Are you glad you're comin' home?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

I laughed. "Yea, I 'spose I would. Has Dally visited you today?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Not 'til now," a voice that wasn't Johnny's answered. I spun around in my chair to see Dally standing against the doorframe, a lighted cigarette in his smirking mouth.

"Where the hell have you been?" I asked as he walked towards us, taking the seat next to me. I took the cig from his mouth and took a drag. I had been trying to cut back on my smoking, but there was something about Dally that made me need one.

"I've been runnin' errands," he said as he took his cigarette from me and popped it back into his mouth. "So what's new Johnnycakes?" he asked.

"I'm going home today. 'Round one they said."

"That's good, that's good," he mumbled almost to himself.

We sat in an awkward silence for a moment, none of us knowing exactly what to say.

"Well I have to pee," Johnny said, throwing off the covers and walking out the door to the bathroom in the hall.

I glanced at Dally for a moment before he stood up, his gargantuan frame towering in front of me. He stared at me before he spoke. "We were interrupted," he said before he kissed me. One arm pulled me up to my feet by my waist and the other cradled the back of my neck. My hands pushed through his hair and the hand at my neck moved to match his other arm. I opened my mouth for air and Dally allowed it, but only for a moment. His tongue pushed into my mouth and we fought for dominance. It was then that Johnny returned from the bathroom.

The door opened, but we didn't hear it. Johnny stood there for a moment before clearing his throat to get our attention. We broke apart and I looked at Johnny, his mouth agape. I opened my mouth to speak but I didn't know what to say. Johnny apparently didn't expect me to say anything, and didn't know what to say himself. He walked slowly towards his bed, never taking his eyes off of us. We both sat down in our original seats and he climbed into his bed and looked at me, then Dally, then me again. He did this three more times before uttering one simple word: Explain. But we didn't get a chance because a nurse walked in.

"Johnny are you ready to go home now?" she asked brightly.

"Yea, I guess I am." He said never looking at her.

"Well the doctor's gonna check you out one last time and then you can leave.

"Thank you," Johnny said politely and she walked out.

"Well, I'm going to wait in the lobby. See you in a few minutes Johnny," I said before nodding at Dally and saying his name. I got up and turned away from him when I felt a smack to my rear. I quickly turned to face Dally, who was smirking at my, a smug expression on his face. I slapped him so hard his face turned away. When he looked back at me he looked startled and shocked. I turned to leave when he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. He stood up, not letting go of me, and stared. His eyes were furious even though his face was expressionless. He pulled me against his body and we stared at each other. He was about a head taller than me so I had to tilt my head almost completely back to look at him. After a while I yanked my hand loose and back a step away. Our eyes held while I said Goodbye to Johnny, but broke when I turned and left. "Damn," Johnny and Dally said together, but with different inflictions. Johnny was shocked while Dallas the Asshole was examining my ass. I never knew what to expect from Dallas. He could be so much like Steve sometimes. God their both such assholes.

I didn't wait in the lobby for Johnny, I was too mad. I went to the Dingo instead. I hope Johnny would understand. I walked in the doors and my eyes fell upon Robbie. I walked over to him and took the seat beside him at the bar. I ordered a coke and Robbie realized who was beside him. He turned to me and opened his mouth to say hello but I didn't wait for his response. I connected our lips and moved closer to him. At first he was shocked and hesitant, but he quickly got over it. He joined in enthusiastically. His tongue requested entrance and I opened my mouth to accommodate it. I slung my arm on his shoulder and his arm reached to the small of my back. I wrapped my other arm around his neck and began playing the hair on the back of his head. His other arm cradled my neck pulling me to him. I willingly complied and straddled him pushing him against the bar. The guy at the bar brought my drink, as we broke apart. I stared wildly at Robbie and got off him. I grabbed his arm as I walked backwards towards the doors. He came with me and the arm I was holding wrapped around my waist. I knew exactly where I was taking him. I needed a distraction, something to get my mind off Dally, and something to compare him to. No one would be at my house. Darry and Soda were at work and Pony hated being home alone. He would probably be hanging with Two-Bit which was fine with me. We walked quickly, Robbie knew where I was taking him and he wasn't going to complain. The front door was unlocked, as always, and the house was silent and dark. I turned to face him and his face attacked mine. This kiss was more intense and hungry. He pressed me against the door and his arm held my back. He opened the door and I broke away giggling. I grabbed his arm and steered him to my room. I turned to the door to open it and his arms moved my sides to wrap around my stomach. He started kissing the back and side of my neck when I finally got the door open. I turned back to him and his hands moved down to my ass. My hands slid under his shirt, feeling his perfect body. I got it up far enough and kissed his abs. his perfect, hard abs. he let go of my and completely removed his shirt. I rubbed his shoulders, his chest and made my way back down to his abs. I felt his hands at my back grabbing the hem of my shirt. He removed it completely, and when he started fumbling with my bra strap, I pushed him onto my bed where I joined him.

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I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Robbie had left about ten minutes ago. I would say I feel bad about what I did, but I didn't. I enjoyed it. It was obvious Robbie had done this before and I had been around the guys fro long enough to not be totally naïve. I decided to get dressed because anyone could be coming home at anytime. I grabbed my black skirt and white top and walked into the bathroom. I put on the clothes and looked at myself in the mirror. My makeup was everywhere and my hair a tangled mess. I grabbed a hairbrush and set to work. It took around ten minutes to get it smoothed out. I proceeded to fix my makeup when I heard the front door open.

"Anybody home?" I heard Two-Bit yell.

"Yea I am," I answered. I decided not to tell him about Robbie because Lord knows he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"He walked into the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, took one look at me and said: So you'd you have over here? in all seriousness.

I looked at him, shocked, but he only stared at me expecting an answer. I looked away and answered 'Robbie'. He laughed briefly before he stared at me.

"What?" I asked. I was always uncomfortable when people just stared at me.

"Nothing," he answered.

I moved closer to him, "No. Tell me," I insisted.

"It's just that…" he trailed off moving closer to me. My breath hitched in my throat before our lips connected. A surge of energy moved through me, I started kissing him back and my hormones were too on hyperactive anyway to care.

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I lay in my bed, starting at the ceiling, breathing heavily. Two-Bit was beside me and I spoke.

"God, I'm such a slut."

"Only blondes are sluts, babe," he said, moving his arm so that it rested around my shoulders.

I turned on my side to look at him, and he looked down at me. "Then what's a brunette who has two guys within fifteen minutes of each other?" I asked.

"A whore," he said with a grin. I elbowed him with a grin of my own.

"God, I'm such a whore," I said with a laugh.

"That you are Lana, that you are."

"But I'm not really a whore."

"Two guys in fifteen minutes? Sorry Lana, but you're officially a whore."

"Ass."

"I prefer the term 'man whore' if you don't mind."

I turned back to Two-Bit and laughed. "God you're such a man whore."

It was silent for a moment before I asked him a question.

"Why did you have sex with me?"

He shrugged, "Why not?"

"But you don't like me like that."

"Yea. And."

"You really are a man whore."

"I thought we already established that Lana."

"Good big word usage Two, I'm surprised."

"I didn't spend three years in the tenth grade for nothin'."

We lay there for a few more minutes. I traced his abs, Robbie's were nothing compared to Two-Bit's. His finger traced my face and I looked up at him, my eyebrows raised. He just smiled and continued. My hand moved to ruffle his hair and my finger moved down to his rusty sideburn. He took my hand and kissed each of my fingertips. I giggled uncontrollably. I calmed down and he put my hand back to his hair.

"Did you know I was saving it for Dally?"

"Dally? Why him?"

"I think I love him," I said as I looked up into Two-Bit's eyes so he could see the honest of my statement.

"Well that's surprising."

I shrugged. "I guess,"

It got quiet again. "So you wanna go again?" he asked smiling.

"Get dressed Two-Bit!" I said and he rolled over. He was against the wall, so the only way he could get out was to roll over, which just happened to be where I was.

"You sure?" he asked, his voice taking on a husky tone. I heard the front door open, before closing again. No one had entered because there weren't any footsteps.

"Yes," I said, knowing he had heard the door too.

He glanced at the door, then back at me. "I think I need to take a shower first," he said, his eyebrows raising slightly.

I bit my lip, thinking. "Well since I'm already a whore…" I said, trailing off.

He kissed my jawbone. "At-a girl," he said before he slipped on his pair of jeans and walked out my door. Was he serious? There was only one way to find out.

**Well, what did you think? Sorry if Soda seemed a little OOC at the beginning, he really does care for her, she's pretty much her sister. And yes, I ****do**** realize she seems like a total slut for what she did, but she's really confused right now and she's a teenager and she hangs around hot guys ALL THE TIME!**

**So R&R!!**


	5. In the Heat of the Moment

** So I would like to start off by saying that yes, Lana seems like a whore, but…Dally's an asshole. And she reacted to it. And she's a greaser girl, and she hangs out with guys all the time. It was bound to happen sometime. :P**

I sat on the toilet while Two-Bit got in the shower. I heard the water turn on and I leaned against the back of the toilet. It was silent for a moment before Two-Bit spoke.

"Why did you have sex with me?" Well that's an unexpected question.

I repeated what he had said earlier: Why not? He stuck his head out the shower curtain and his face said Seriously? Now give me a real answer.

"Dally's an asshole."

His head moved back into the shower. "Well I already knew that. What's your other reason?"

"He's just… I don't know. He's been really weird lately. I don't know what to think anymore."

"Is it possible that, maybe, he likes you?"

"No. Dally has the emotions of a chair. It's impossible."

"But Lana, impossible things are happening everyday!" Two-Bit had recently seen Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella and he was going through a phase, an annoying phase.

"If only I was Cinderella. Then I could get my Fairy Godmother to make everything work out."

"If you wish hard enough and believe in what you're wishing, even impossible dreams can come true!"

I got up and flung aside the shower curtain. "Get outta the shower Two-Bit, Darry's gonna be mad about the bill," Do not look down, I commanded myself, do not look down.

"Go ahead, look. It's not like you haven't seen it before," he said smirking.

"Get out Two-Bit."

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say," he said getting out of the shower and grabbing a towel. I walked out of the bathroom and left him to do whatever he pleased in there. I walked into my room to put on my clothes.

"Leaving!" I announced before walking out the front door. I decided to walk to Dally's room at Buck's. He would probably be there, and hopefully alone. Hopefully.

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I arrived at Buck's after a short trek across town. It was still too early for a party but there were still crowds of people there. There was always a crowd at Buck's though. No matter what the day, time, or anything else, there was a crowd.

"Is Dally here?" I asked the first coherent person I found. Just my luck, it was Robbie.

"Hey babe, you come back for more?" it was obvious that he had had a few drinks, but he was more sober than half of the people here. I wouldn't have taken him up on his offer anyway, and his chances were only hindered by the fact the he was dancing with a girl while his hands were up her skirt.

"No thanks Robbie. Now do you know if Dally's here?"

"Well I guess he'd be in his room if he was. But the real question is, why are lookin' for Dal when you got me right here."

"No thanks, asshole," I said before I walked away. Ugh, he was a jerk. I'll need to make sure I remembered that.

I walked up the stairs to where the rooms were. Dally had a room in this place just in case. Most nights he was here, unless he was at our place.

The door was cracked so I walked in. if he was doing anything, he would close the door. That's just how he worked; he doesn't like to be disturbed.

I paused in the doorway to look inside. Dally was there, looking out the window, smoking a cigarette. He didn't notice me until I came farther in the room and stepped on the squeaky floorboard. He head whipped around. His eyes angry at first, but then softened (to whatever extent he could possibly soften his steely eyes) as he saw who it was. His signature smirk flashed across his face and he leaned against his wall. I took that as an invitation to come completely into his room. I leaned against the door as it closed and we both paused. I stared deeply into his eyes and he stared right back. I bit the side of my lip and he smirked again, but this time it stayed put on his perfect lips. Oh, how I wanted to kiss those lips. How I wanted to feel them move with mine. I wanted to feel them as they moved down my neck and up again. I wanted him to hold me forever in his sculpted arms and protect my from everything, even though allowing that would bring troubles of its own.

"Dally, I- I did something bad," I didn't want to tell him, But I knew I would have to tell him.

"Well it can't be that bad Lana. Little Miss Perfect can do no wrong," oh this was not going to go well. He was mocking me. Now he's just going to get even madder when he finds out.

I sighed, "You're not gonna like it."

"Maybe it'll help if you say it fast," he said jokingly.

I took his advice seriously. "IsleptwithRobbieandTwo-Bit," I blurted out as fast as I could. His eyes grew large but he just stood there. He blinked a few times before he spoke. "What?" he asked, his voice menacing and deep.

"I'm sorry I-"

"You're sorry! That's all you can say? I'm sorry!"

"I just-"

"You just what?"

"I just- I don't know. I don't know why. I just, did."

"You act more like Ponyboy everyday. That kid never thinks."

"Don't talk about him that way! He's just a kid!"

"Yea, well we're all just kids! And the rest of us think! Why should he be any different?"

I couldn't handle this anymore. I can't take him when he's angry, especially when he starts talking about my family. "I'm going to leave," I said as I turned to leave. During our argument we had moved a few steps closer to each other so I wasn't standing against the door anymore. Dally closed the steps between us "Stop. Wait, I just-"

"You just what Dally?" I asked angry. Tears began forming in my eyes. Why does he make me feel this way? No one else can make me feel so emotional.

"I just-I don't know. You just make me-I don't know," he turned away from me and sitting on the floor "I just feel stupid around you,"

"No." I said while I sat down beside him, "No I'm stupid," I laid on the floor before finishing my statement, "I'm stupid and selfish and-"

"No you're not," he said laying beside me and turning to look at me.

"Yes I am. I'm stupid for coming here, for wanting to be here, and I'm selfish for wanting you to feel the same way," I turned my head to look at him. His face was expressionless, I couldn't read him.

"Well then I must be even more stupid and selfish," he moved closer to me, "for wanting you to stay." The last part was whispered so softly that I thought I had imagined it. Until he kissed me. We were still lying on the floor beside each other, but he took me in his arms and kissed me. The moment our lips met a fire started. It coursed through me and spread. His hand entangled itself in my hair and his other was wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. My hand moved up from his shoulder onto his neck and he mimicked my movement. His fingers instantly found the place on my neck that he had once caressed with his lips, he now massaged with his fingers. The movements made my head roll back in an instinctive reaction and my body melted under his touch. He moved from my lips and began to trail kisses across my face and down my neck. I moaned in the pure pleasure of having him touch me. Of him being here with me. Of it just being me and not some stupid slut he found. I felt him smirk against my neck because of the noise. He made his way up my neck and found my lips. Hungrily and passionately our lips moved perfectly together, each wanting more than what they got. I felt his tongue request access and I granted it. We fought for a moment, but I allowed him to take control. He tasted a lot like he smelled, of cigarettes, liquor, and peppermint. The combination was revolting when we had first met, but now I took comfort in the familiar scent that I could partner with a distinctive taste. He was Dallas Winston, a greaser that oozed of toughness and hatred. I was Atlana Reynolds, the girl that meant everything to Ponyboy, Soda, and Darry Curtis. I was a greaser just like them, but off-limits to everybody. Darry wouldn't approve. Dally and I shouldn't be together, but we were. He made me feel giggly and stupid, yet at the same time like I was the only thing that mattered. I knew I was falling for him, falling hard and fast, but I wasn't afraid. I knew Dally would be catch me when I fell, but I can only pray that he wouldn't drop me once he did. Dallas Winston doesn't keep girls, he uses them. How did I know that he wasn't just using me right now? How did I know that he didn't have a girl waiting for him when I left? How did I know that he was even thinking of me right now? I didn't, and that was something that I was going to have to accept. Dally sleeps around, but maybe I could learn to live with it as long as he always comes back to me. Maybe. Perhaps I could change him, but I knew that wouldn't work. I could never change Dally, but I knew Dally was changing me. I just hadn't figured out if it was for better or worse.

"Dallas why do you do this to me?" I asked, leaning my head back to speak.

"Do what?" he asked, trailing kisses down my neck.

"You know…" I trailed off. What did I mean? Did I mean him leading me on? Him keeping me here? Me loving him? How can I explain my question if I don't even know what I'm asking?

"I better go before someone finds me here in a compromising position," he smirked.

"You're already in a compromising position," I became aware of where I was. I was on the floor, in a sitting position on Dally's lap, with my legs straddling him. I don't remember moving there.

"Well I guess I am," I stated and he kissed me. Our lips moved together as one. A slow heat filtered through my body once again, his grasp got tighter and tighter. He moved to get up, while not breaking his hold on me. Was I ready for this? I had already had Robbie and Two-Bit, but they didn't mean anything to me. They were distractions, distractions from Dally. I cared about Dally. I disconnected our faces. "Dallas stop," I said quickly, opening my eyes. He opened his too. He looked at me in controlled disbelief.

"What?" he asked, "What did you just say to me?" he wasn't angry, but he was damn close. He was trying hard to control it.

"I said stop," I wasn't scared, yet.

"Why would you want me to stop? As I recall you didn't say that to Robbie or Two-Bit!"

"They didn't mean anything to me! They were distractions!"

"From what?"

"From you," I said quietly.

"Why would you want a distraction from me?" he asked, genuine concern in his tone.

"Well, you were being an asshole."

He laughed breathily. "I'm always an asshole," he said before he lay back on the floor with me still on top of him. I got off and we resumed our original positions. I could tell he wasn't angry anymore, not seriously anyway. We lay there for a moment, both on our backs, not touching each other. We laid in silence, until it shattered like a Soc's beer bottle against the ground.

"Dally?" I heard a girl ask from the hallway before knocking on the door. I tensed; I knew this was going to happen eventually.

"I guess I better go now, 'Dally'," I said venomously imitating the girl's voice. I got up and looked back at him. He was looking at me, with the cold eyes I had seen him use when he was trying to hide his emotions. I walked over to the door, grabbed the handle, and said "Goodbye Dallas," before I opened the door and walked out.

The girl standing in the hall didn't pay attention to me because she had her back turned away from his door. I hoped she had fun and enjoyed it. I hoped Dallas enjoyed it too, because never again would he have me in that room.

** Well, what did you think? Remember to R&R so I can know how y'all feel. Do you love it? Hate it? Wish I would update right now? Wish I would delete it because it is crap? I can't know unless you review so REVIEW! Reviews make me happy and when I'm happy I get motivated and when I'm motivated I right and the happy cycle continues!**


	6. In My Room

I could've called Two-Bit. Hell, I could've called Robbie. I needed a distraction, but I would be a hypocrite if I did anything with someone else. And Atlana Reynolds is not a hypocrite. A whore, maybe, but a hypocrite? No.

I could hear the guys in our house before I could see them. They had problems being quiet; I wouldn't be surprised if we were all deaf by the time we were thirty.

I opened the door to screaming. Two-Bit was sitting on the couch watching Mickey, oblivious, while Darry was yelling at Ponyboy. That had become more a reoccurring thing recently so I didn't think much of it and just walked to my room. I changed into my pajamas and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, I had school tomorrow and I wanted to look nice. I walked back into my room and decided on tomorrow's outfit. I chose a fairly long skirt and a green top. Mrs. Curtis always said that green made my eyes pop. I sat in front my window and watched the sun as it descended from the sky into the vast nothingness of the horizon. Just as the sun began to touch it, a face appeared. I didn't scream because I was expecting it. I was expecting Dallas Winston to show up at my window tonight, so I opened it.

He stared at me for what seemed like an eternity, his blue eyes dead.

"I'm sorry," he said looking down.

"Is that all you can say for yourself?" I asked gently, lifting his head up by his chin.

"What would you like to hear?" he asked moving slightly closer.

"I believe a quote from Shakespeare is in order," I jokingly requested.

"I guess it's time Pony took me to the library."

"I don't think they let JD's in there, you might steal something."

"Why would a JD steal a book?"

"Well," I began, but he didn't let me finish. He moved into me and our lips connected. I instantly felt that surge of energy and I helped him through my window. He sat on my windowsill and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

"So who was she?" I asked disconnecting our lips.

"Who?" Dally replied, distracted, as he kissed down my neck.

"That girl," I replied, forcing him to look directly at me, "who was that girl?" I persisted.

"She was no one. She was just some girl looking for me."

"Why was she looking for you?" I unwound my legs, but continued to sit in his lap. I was going to get an answer. He would admit it, one way or another.

He smirked before answering, "I think we both know the answer to that one. Why does any girl come looking for me?"

Wrong answer Dallas. I got up from my perch and faced him. "I can't handle this. I can't handle you, or how you act or-I can't do this."

"Baby, what are ya talkin' about?" he asked, honest confusion in his voice and face. He moved forwards and grabbed my wrist. I yanked it away.

"Don't call me that Dallas Winston."

"What's your problem Lana?" he asked moving to my window as he lit a cigarette.

"My problem is you, Winston," he merely raised an eyebrow, a talent taught to him by Two-Bit. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Yelling at Dally wouldn't help, and it would draw enough attention that someone walked into my room and that would lead to unwanted questions and tears. "I'm not going to be able to handle you being with other girls," I said, carefully choosing my words.

"But it's o.k. for you to ball every guy who asks?" Touche.

I looked away from him in order to calculate my response. I didn't notice him move close to me until I felt his fingers move my chin up to look at him.

"Hmm?" his eyes bored into mine, waiting patiently for my answer. Tears that had been threatening now slowly came to the surface.

"I don't deserve this," I whispered as a tear ran down my cheek. Dally's eyes were questioning and awaited my explanation. "I don't deserve to have to deal with your shit. I don't need it," the tears flowed more freely now.

"Then why-" I interrupted him.

"Because you're everything I want," I said as I stared into his eyes so he could see my sincerity.

He ran his hand down the side of my face before he wiped away a few of the tears. I hugged him close to me and his arms wrapped around me. We held each other there for an eternity. I leaned my head back from his chest and looked up at him. His face leaned down and our lips touched. It was a sweet kiss, promising acceptance and security.

"Promise me,"

"Promise what?"

"Promise me," I cupped the side of his face in face so that he could look at me, but also so that I could watch his eyes as he answered, "That you won't see anyone else."

"I promise," I smiled at his answer and kissed him. I intended it to be a quick, sweet kiss, but Dally had other plans. He pulled my lips open with his and our tongues intertwined. His hand knotted in my hair and secured my face to his. The other hand moved down my side before wrapping around my waist and pulled me closer. My hands cradled his face and then moved through his hair until they dropped around his neck. I started to pull myself up and he understood, so he helped me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he walked us to my bed. He pushed me against the wall the bed was against and his hands moved underneath my shirt and up my sides.

"Dallas stop," but he didn't. His head moved down, trailing kisses, until he settled on my now exposed stomach. I slid down the wall until only my shoulders were resting against the wall. He made is way back up to my lips but his hands pulled at the hem of my shirt. He pulled it over my head and threw it across the room. His head moved to my stomach just below my bra and I wrapped my hands around his neck and played with his hairline before I pulled his head back up to match my lips. I pivoted myself so that I was lying correctly on my bed. His hand gently ran up and down my side, raising the hairs wherever he touched me. My hands slipped under his shirt and he let go of me to remove his shirt. I traced his prefect stomach. He straddled me, just above my hips and I felt a tug at my pajama bottoms. He tugged again and the next thing I knew they weren't there anymore. I fumbled with the button of his pants and he took the initiative to assist me. His hand moved up my exposed leg but stopped at my knee where he hitched it up around his waist. I put my other leg around his other side and his hand roamed up my thigh and side. His other hand made its way up my back where he expertly undid my bra. He flung that across the room and it joined my shirt and bottoms. His head moved down to the exposed skin between my breasts and he sucked slightly. He then moved back down to my stomach. I let out a moan, a loud one. I grasped his head in my hands and my back arched to allow his better access.

There must have been a knock, but I didn't hear it.

"Is everything-" I gasped a whipped my head around to look at my door. Soda and Darry were standing in my doorway. My eyes grew as big as saucers and Dally removed his head to look. His face lost all expression. I grabbed my blanket and wrapped it around myself. I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when I saw Darry's face. It was turning red, fast.


	7. Aftermath

**So the last Chapter didn't get many reviews, hopefully I get more for this one!**

"What the hell is goin' on here!" Darry screamed.

"Darry-I-I."

He stomped over to me and grabbed my arm. He pulled me away from Dally so hard I almost lost my grip on my blanket. He glared down at me before he spit out his statement, "I'll deal with you later." I had never felt so afraid in my life. I had seen how Darry had been recently with Pony, and he had never been this angry at him.

He turned back to Dallas, fury evident in his eyes. "Now," he began, trying his hardest to calm down.

"Darry," Dally interjected. He held one hand out in a gesture telling him to calm down.

Darry had turned slightly away from Dally, but now gave him his full attention. He pointed one finger at him like a father would when he was scolding a child. "Don't interrupt me!" he bellowed.

"Darry, just calm down," Soda spoke softly.

Darry turned to face Soda. "Calm down? You want me to calm down? Soda, did you see what I just saw?"

"Yea, Darry, I did. But I think you're overreacting."

"Overreacting. I 'm not overreacting. I just found Dallas Winston, Dallas Winston, in bed with Lana. What do you want me to say? 'Oh it's fine I don't care,' well guess what! I do care, and I will not stand here and allow this to happen! Lana," he turned to me, "you are not allow to see him ever again."

I was shocked. Darry couldn't ban me from seeing him, it was impossible. "What are you going to do Darry? Ban him from our house?" Darry would never do it. He was too nice.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do. Dallas," he turned back to Dallas, who was still sitting on my bed with his cold eyes and expressionless face, "get out." And that was all it took. He got, up collected his clothes, and walked out without even a glance towards me. I wouldn't cry now. I would wait until I was alone to do that.

Darry turned to me, his anger considerably lower now that Dally was gone. "Get dressed," he said before walking to my door. I didn't put any clothes on. I walked straight into my bed and curled up in my blanket. I stared at the wall while the first tears ran down my face. I blinked a few times and my breath hitched in my throat. I started sobbing. That was the first night I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

When I woke up that morning my throat was sore from all the crying. I rolled over onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I didn't cry again, I couldn't cry anymore. I didn't have any tears left, I rolled out of bed and lay on the floor a moment, collecting my thoughts. I got up and walked over to where my clothes were and put on my top and bottoms. I didn't care that I wasn't wearing a bra.

I walked into the bathroom, did my business and walked into the kitchen. No one was up yet, so I fixed a bowl of cereal and sat at the table and ate in silence. I wasn't ready to face Darry yet, but I was curious to see if Dally obeyed Darry's order. Knowing him he'd probably lay low at Buck's for a few days and then come back to test the waters. I heard stirring coming from Darry's room so I quickly finished my cereal and put the empty bowl and spoon in the sink.

The house was still silent so I just laid on my bed, not trying to go to sleep, but not trying to stay awake. Darry walked into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee before walking into Soda and Pony's room and wake them up. I heard Pony's groan followed by two sets of footprints, one going to the kitchen, and the other going towards my room.

"Come in Soda," I said before I even heard the knock. He opened my door and pocked his head through the opening.

"You're awake early," he stated.

"Yea, I guess," I wasn't in a talking mood right now, but I could tell that Soda was.

"You gonna join us or stay in there all by your lonesome?"

"I already ate."

There was a pause, "O.K. Then," Soda said before he closed my door and left me to myself.

* * *

I decided to stay in my room the whole day. I got up a few times to go to the bathroom, but Soda brought me my Lunch when he went on his lunch break and my portion of dinner when it was ready. Nobody bothered me. I wasn't pestered by any of the guys. I was left to sulk on my own, and that was how I wanted it. I knew I would probably only be able to pull this off for one, maybe two more days. Darry wouldn't allow it for too long. He thought I shouldn't waste my tears on someone like Dallas Winston. Soda was the one who told me he felt that way. I also didn't want to miss too much at the beginning of school, but school was the farthest thing from my mind right now.

As expected, Dally laid low for the next few days. On Wednesday I decided I would leave my room and go to school. It seemed like a good distraction for me, especially since Dally didn't go to school. I got dressed and walked into the bathroom to put my make up on. When I walked out of the bathroom everyone was surprised to see me. I ignored them and sat down at the table to eat my breakfast. It was quiet, too quiet. Then I realized that it was only us in the house, and unusual occurrence. When I finished I sat on the couch to wait for Ponyboy.

We walked out of the house to meet Johnny at his house. Our walk was silent, no one knowing what to say to each other. I didn't know what Darry and Soda had told everyone and I didn't know if Two-Bit had been talking about us. I really hoped he hadn't. Two-Bit had problems with opening his mouth. Ironically, he met us about halfway to the school.

He walked up behind me and slung his arm around my shoulders.

"So how are we today?" he asked, his goofy grin on his face.

"A lot better before you showed up," I replied. I wasn't in a good mood today.

"I get the feeling you're not excited to see me," he said, his arm making its way down my back until it rested around my waist. I rolled my head lazily to look up at him. He tok that as an invitation to kiss me.

"Two-Bit, what the hell is your problem?" asked, pushing him away from me.

"What's your problem?" he asked, bewildered.

"Just leave me only O.K?"

"Fine," he answered before he walked towards a group of greasers smoking around a tree.

I found Stacy and Sandy and walked over to them.

"Hey, where have you been?" Stacy asked.

"Dally," was all I said.

"Dally Winston?" Sandy asked, astonished.

"Yea Dally Winston," I replied, imitating her tone.

"What have you been doing with him?"

"Nothin' really just-"

"Dallas Winston doesn't do nothin' with girls," Stacy said knowingly.

"And how would you know?"

"Well, just a few days ago I was walking upstairs at Buck's with Jazz and I saw this other girl walkin' towards Dally's room and knock. Ans then just a few moments later, this other girl walks out of his room and the other girl walks in. I could hear them through the wall. And then yesterday, Angela Shepard was tellin' me that Dally had invited her up to his room and apparently he is very satisfactory, if you know what I mean."

"Yea, yea I know what you mean," I said absently. Damn you Dallas Winston. You broke your promise. And I'll be damned if I let this go easily.

**So, what did you think? Also, it's about to pick up where the book starts so in the next few chapter there will be a time lapse (I'll let you know exactly where it is), s just be ready for that. As always, R&R!**


	8. Decisions

**I know I've been forgetting this but I DON'T own The Outsiders...Yea...**

I felt his hot breath on my face and ran my fingers through his hair. He pulled me closer and I felt his tongue gently lick my bottom lip. I opened my mouth and felt the wall against my back. I didn't know how much farther I was going to take this. I didn't care. I slid my hands down his chest until I got to the hem of his shirt. I slipped my hands underneath his shirt and I traced his delicious abs. I turned my head away from his warm and inviting lips and admired his stomach. He noticed.

"You act like you've never seen 'em before," he said with a smile and a slight laugh.

"They get better every time," I replied and went to kiss his neck.

"Well then admire all you want," he said before he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it across the room.

"Mmm," I said while my hands roamed everywhere on his chest and stomach. Our lips connected and I used my tongue to massage his.

"You've gotten better at this," he commented.

"Practice."

"On who?"

"Jealous?" I asked amused. He's cute jealous.

"Not if you make it up to me," he said and deepened the kiss. We were close to my bed and before I knew it I was lying there with him on top of me. His hands roaming my sides.

I started unbuttoning the top of my blouse, and he caught on. His hands moved to the buttons towards the bottom of my shirt. I moved to his one button. He lifted himself off me to assist me and I finished the buttons that were left on my shirt. He came back and pulled me against his firm chest and I arched my back when he started kissing my neck. He helped me out of my shirt while I shimmied out of the skirt that I had worn to school that day. His hands slid up my stomach until they reached my bra, then he moved his hands around my sides until he reached the clasp.

I heard the sound it made when it hit the wall opposite my bed. He hitched my leg up around his hip. I felt the same hand run up my thigh until it reached the obstruction that was my underwear. He pulled that one side down and he rubbed the place on my leg that it had covered. I wrapped my other leg around his hip and pushed all of my weight onto him. He was a little startled by this change in dynamics, but willingly went backwards so that I was on top of him. He trailed kisses down my cheek, neck, and collarbone. I moaned his name.

"Two-Bit."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We were lying on our sides, facing each other. He kissed me tenderly while his hand made lazy circles on my back. I would have to tell Dally, but it was part of my plan. I wanted to show him that if he was going to cheat, there was nothing stopping me. If Dally was going to break promises, then I could too.

"Finally embracing your whoreness?" Two-Bit asked smiling.

"Guess I am," I replied with a breathy laugh.

"I like it," he said.

"Do you think he'll be mad?" I asked, knowing he would understand what I was talking about.

"Probably, but does it really matter?"

"It matters to me," I murmured.

"Ya know, even though you're starting to act like the rest of the broads around here, you're still not."

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked bewildered.

"Every other girl would have said it didn't matter, but it does to you. At least you feel guilty, I'll bet Dally doesn't."

That comment made me mad. "Well then I'll have to make him," I said removing myself from his grasp. I slipped out of the bed and gathered my clothes.

I paused, "We still haven't, ya know," I didn't know why I was telling him this, I guess I was just comfortable around him.

"I would use that to your advantage," he was laying with his head in his hand, his elbow propped up on my pillows. He was watching me.

"Like whatcha see Two?" I asked amused.

"You get better every time."

"Like your abs?" I asked, referring to what I had previously said about them.

"Exactly," he said before we motioned me over with his hand. I came. "Does it really not bother you that you've balled me twice and you haven't with Dally?"

"I try not to think about it."

I quickly got up because I needed to talk to Dally and if I waited any longer I was afraid Darry wouldn't let me out of the house, or worse, find Two-Bit here.

"I have to go Two."

"Fine, fine," but he stayed in my bed.

"That means it's time for you to leave," he just stared at me. "You're kinda in my room." I turned and walked to my door when I heard the springs in my mattress protest the extreme shifting of his weight. "And put some clothes on before you leave," I reminded him for I shut the door to my room.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

His room was silent, a good sign. The knock on his door resonated down the equally silent hallway. I heard the groan of mattress' springs and laughed quietly to myself that I had woken him up. He opened the door and was clad only in his underwear because of the extreme heat. He opened the door wider when he saw who it was.

"I thought you weren't allowed to see me anymore," he said in an annoying monotone, even though I could see the distant glimmers of happiness that he was trying to hide.

"Well I decided to break a few rules today," I would build up to my confession and my confrontation. Tease him. Take Two-Bit's advice and use our lack of sex to my advantage.

He raised one eyebrow, "A few?" he asked jokingly but also interested. He could see only one possible rule that I had broken.

"I'll tell you about it later," I said before I roughly crashed our lips together. He found the implications of this kiss and ran with it. Before I knew it, I was against the wall with my legs around him. After a moment my arms were above my head, and I knew that he would remove my shirt, so I decided to speak.

I turned my head slightly and he began kissing my neck, exactly what I knew he would do. "I know about Angela," at the sound of her name he stopped and looked me in the eyes. My face remained steady and his was instantly cold. I dropped me legs and he moved away from me. He knew he was in trouble, and he didn't want to be within slapping distance. He knew how those felt coming from me.

"Stacy told me. Dallas, you really shouldn't underestimate the power of girls, how much they talk, what they talk about, whom they say things to. You should've known I would've found out sooner or later," He just continued to stare at me. "And you should never break a promise," I didn't know where these tears were coming from. I had been over and over this in my head on the way here. Something about seeing his lifeless face staring at me mad me upset. I tried to hold them back but I couldn't. "You promised…" I trailed off and wiped a few tears that had escaped. His face had softened a bit and he moved closer to me. I slapped him. "You lying, cheat, bastard!" I yelled as he recoiled and more tears came down, heavier than before.

When he turned to me again his face was slightly angry. Oh no. This was not going at all as I had planned. He grabbed my arm and made me look right at him. He didn't say anything, just stared at me with his cold, emotionless eyes. This wasn't what I wanted. I wanted remorse, sadness, anything! This was the Dally that hid from people; this wasn't the Dally that had stroked my back when Johnny was hurt, or the one that held me as I slept in the hospital. This Dally was almost scary. The tears flowed harder as I thought of those memories, but his face still held no emotion, though his grip had loosened.

"I don't know what you want me to say," he said in that same annoying monotone. This made me even sadder.

"I want you to say something! Anything! That it was an accident, that you regret it, that you're sorry."

"But I'm not," this made me mad. I started crying angry tears, but I stopped myself.

"Wrong answer," I said as I tore my arm away from him. "I honestly can't deal with this. I can't take it! I can't take you cheating on me, so you know what I did? I slept with Two-Bit. There, I said it. I used him, and hopefully I won't use him again, you know why? Because you have two options, you can either have me, and only me, and I'll do the same for you. Or, you can sleep with all the sluts and whores you want, and I'll sleep with all the guys I want. But if you choose me, and I find out you cheated, and I will find out, you can find me with Two-Bit. But the good news is, you'll be free. Because this is your last chance, one more slip up, and I'm gone. Forever. And you better decide damn fast because won't wait forever. In 24 hours, I'll assume you've chosen option one, and poof, I'm gone, so goodbye Dallas Winston. Hopefully, it won't be forever," I opened the door, walked out, and didn't look back. I didn't close the door because I wanted him to see me walk away. I wanted him to realize that this could be me walking out forever. I wanted him to know what that felt like. And I really wanted to talk to my brother.

I cried on my way home. It was about five o'clock and for some reason no one was home. I walked straight into my room and collapsed onto the bed. Some time after that, someone came in the house. They walked to the bathroom and I heard water running. I didn't pay them any attention. It was probably Steve. I don't care about Steve.

Apparently I was a little louder than I had thought because I heard a knock on my door.

"What…do…you…want?" I managed to choke out.

"Um, it's Pony. Are you, are you crying in there?" Ponyboy? What was he doing here? Why was he alone?

"Go…away," but it had fallen on deaf ears because Pony already had the door open and was coming in.

"Lana…" he couldn't even finish. I looked up at him and tried to stop crying, but I couldn't.

"I told you to go away," I said weakly.

"What…what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Lana, you obviously need to talk to someone," he was right. I did need to talk to someone. So I told Pony everything.

We were silent for a moment as he took everything in. I was far from being a tortured soul, but I was a conflicted one. I was far more in love with Dallas than I had thought, and seeing him acting like that towards me broke me. He should know he doesn't need to be that way around me! He should know that he doesn't need to hide with me. I knew that I didn't need to hide with him.

"So Two-Bit…"

"Shut up Pony," I said quietly, no humor in my voice.

"I just, I don't really know what you want me to say," I hugged him close.

"I'm just glad you listened," and I was. Soda tried, but he already had his opinions of Dally. He wouldn't understand. Pony had never had these experiences so he couldn't give me any advice, but it helped a lot that he had sat there as I spilled everything from my quickly overflowing bowl of emotions.

"I'll always be here to listen to you," I knew he would be. Pony was so young, his mind so open. He wouldn't form any opinions because he had no opinion of me. I was his sister, kind of. I meant the world to him and I always would.

The front door opened and Darry's voice filled the air.

"Go help Darry and tell him that I already ate. I'm not really that hungry."

"Okay. Take care of yourself Lana."

"I will," and that was my promise, and I would keep it.

I decided to join my family in the 'dining room' later. They all looked at me when I walked in, but thankfully I had stopped crying so my face wasn't red and splotchy anymore. It was spaghetti, leftovers from last night's spaghetti actually, but I sat down with half a plate anyway. I should have been more careful though. The lack of food on my plate tipped them off that something was wrong.

"Lana, you know you gotta talk to us right?" Soda almost seemed a little put off that I hadn't confided in him, but he wouldn't have understood. It was exactly what he had expected of Dallas. He would have said that I was better off.

I kept eating and tried to ignore them and focus on my food. Darry had trusted Soda with the noodles so they were green, but the sauce was actually pretty good, but no where near as good as Mrs. Curtis's.

"Lana you cannot do this!" Darry sudden anger made me instantly lift my head up in alarm. "You can't do that thing you do!"

This confused me, "What thing?" I asked honestly.

"That thing where you just ignore everyone and don't talk! It's not good for you," Darry could be such a mother sometimes.

"You just wouldn't understand," I mumbled under my breath.

"Like hell we wouldn't!"

"Yea, you wouldn't!" I yelled and got up from the table and began to walk away.

"Don't you walk away from me Lana!"

"Darry you are not my father!"

He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. "Well according to the state I might as well be."

I pulled my arm away and slammed my door. Darry could never be Mr. Curtis. He shouldn't even try.

I didn't go to bed. I sat underneath my window and waited. Dally would come. He had to. I don't know what I would do without him now that I had had a taste. He didn't. Not until it was almost light outside.

I had started to fall asleep against the wall when he knocked. I woke with a start but didn't answer. He came in anyway.

"I choose you," he said before we were crushed together.

**Ok so the time lapse starts now. It picks up right when the book starts so now the book's plot is thrown in. But wait, if I'm throwing in the book's plot…what about Johnny and Dallas? Will they die? Well I guess now you have and even BETTER reason to read!**


	9. Beginning and Endings

**Okay, so here the story picks up where the book is and I use a lot of dialogue from the book so I don't own ANY OF IT! Promise. Hope you enjoy! And remember...REVIEW! because that makes me more motivated to write and write longer 'cause then I know people are actually reading this story besides my friends who I MAKE read it :D LOVE YOU GUYS!...if only they'd review... *glare* JK! REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW! And cyber cookie and a mention in the next chapter to the person who gets the shout out to my favorite show that's in here!**

The brisk almost autumn air nipped at my bare arms. Pony wasn't home yet and the guys were worried. I was too, but not enough to go out and look for him. He was probably already almost home so he should be here any minute. Dally hadn't been around today but I wasn't concerned. He knew what the consequences were and the fear of loosing me outweighed his hormones.

The near silence of the quickly cooling preevening air was broken by yells. Someone was yelling, a boy. He was yelling our names. Recognition struck my like lightning.

I burst into the house, "Pony's in trouble." Their reaction was swift they stopped what they were doing and flowed me out the door. There were five Socs huddled on the street. One was stuffing something in the kid's mouth, Pony's mouth. Suddenly the world turned red and hazy and I stopped thinking only reacting. I roundhouse kicked the Soc sitting on Pony, causing him to look our way, and Soda tackled him. Two-Bit and I flipped out our switchblades as a guy holding one of his own came at us.

I saw a figure coming towards us and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was Dally. We were pretty evenly matched and I turned my attention to Pony as Dally grabbed the Soc Steve was sparring with and slung him to the ground.

He was dazed so I shook him a little to try and get him to focus.

"Are you all right, Ponyboy?" I asked frantically.

"I'm okay. Quit shaking me, Lana, I'm okay."

I stopped instantly. "I'm sorry." I let go and he sat down on the ground, rubbing his cheek.

Darry jammed his fists in his pockets. "They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?"

"I'm okay."

Soda came and joined our little pow-wow. "You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?"

He only looked at him blankly. "I did?"

He pulled out a handkerchief, wet the end of it with his tongue, and pressed it gently against the side of Pony's head. "You're bleedin' like a stuck pig."

"I am?"

"Look!" He showed him the handkerchief. "Did they pull a blade on you?"

"Yeah." Damn those Socs. Damn them to hell.

I saw tears begin to form in Pony's eyes and he turned away.

"Easy, Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you no more." I said, consoling him.

"I know."

Soda rubbed his hair. "You're an okay kid, Pony." Pony couldn't help but smile. Soda could make anyone feel better.

"You're crazy, Soda, out of your mind."

Darry looked as if he'd like to knock their heads together. "You're both nuts."

Soda merely cocked one eyebrow, a trick he'd picked up from Two-Bit. "It seems to run in this family." Darry stared blankly him, but then smiled.

The guys had chased the Socs to their car and heaved rocks at them. They came running toward us now.

Pony wiped his eyes hurriedly. "Didya catch 'em?"

"Nup. They got away this time, the dirty shit-faced, mother f-"

Two-Bit was interrupted, "The kid's okay?"

"I'm okay."

I changed the subject. "I didn't know you were out of the cooler yet, Dally."

"Good behavior. Got off early." Dallas lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny while he stared at me. He smirked, causing me to smile. His arm curled around my waist and I turned to face him. He kissed me sweetly, but the gags from Two-Bit and Steve caused us to break apart. I shut Steve up with a punch to his shoulder and Two-Bit had enough sense to shut his mouth, but the look he gave me made me uneasy. I couldn't tell what he meant by it. Two-Bit had become and enigma to me recently. I just didn't understand him anymore.

It had been a while since Dally and I told the gang about us. It was the night after he decided he wanted me instead of all the whores in the world. The gang didn't really like it at first, but they came around after a few days. Darry was a little more difficult though. He still wouldn't leave me alone with him. Two-Bit didn't appear too happy about it either. He didn't say anything, but he acted…different. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it, but something was wrong with him, I could tell that much.

While I was pondering this, I noticed I was staring at him. He cocked an eyebrow. "Nice-lookin' bruise you got there, kid."

Pony gingerly touched his face, "Really?"

Two-Bit nodded sagely. "Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough."

Steve flicked his ashes at me, causing me to give him a glare. "What were you doin', walkin' by your lonesome?" Leave it to good old Steve to bring up something like that.

"I was comin' home from the movies. I didn't think..."

"You don't ever think," Darry broke in, "not at home or anywhere when it counts. You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? No sirree, bub. And if you did have to go by yourself, you should have carried a blade."

Pony just stared at the hole in the toe of his tennis shoe.

Soda was glaring at him. "Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault the Socs like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons."

Soda always takes up for him.

Darry said impatiently, "When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask you- kid brother." But he laid off him. He always does when Sodapop tells him to. Most of the time.

"Next time get one of us to go with you, Ponyboy," Two-Bit said. "Any of us will."

"Speakin' of movies"- Dally yawned, flipping away his cigarette butt- "I'm walkin' over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anybody want to come and hunt some action?" He sure as hell better mean a fight.

Steve shook his head. "Me and Soda are pickin' up Evie and Sandy for the game."

Darry sighed, just like I knew he would. Darry never had time to do anything anymore. "I'm working tomorrow night."

Dally looked at the rest of us. "How about y'all? Two-Bit? Johnnycake, you and Pony wanta come?"

"Me and Johnny'll come," Pony said speaking up for Johnny.

"Okay, Darry?"

"Yeah, since it ain't a school night." Darry was real good about letting us go places on the weekends. On school nights we could hardly leave the house.

"I was plannin' on getting boozed up tomorrow night," Two-Bit said. "If I don't, I'll walk over and find y'all."

"You don't need to ask me," I said, snuggling closer to him.

"I know," he said, pulling me onto his lap. His arms were around me and my back was molded against his chest. He ran his hand down my left arm and took my hand. I scanned the gang and they were all watching us. I turned my attention back to my hand and noticed something. There was a ring on my fourth finger, Dally's ring. I gasped and looked up at him. He smirked casually, but the happiness was evident in his eyes. I slung my arms around his neck and kissed him. He snaked his arms around my waist, but before it could go any farther, Darry coughed, loudly, and brought me back to reality.

I wasn't very surprised that Dally had given me his ring, it probably would have happened sooner, but Dally got put in the cooler soon after we told everyone. Apparently he had beat up a few Socs before he came over to my place and the police dragged him in. Typical Dally.

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"Rub harder, Soda," I heard Darry mumbling. "You're gonna put me to sleep." Sodapop was giving Darry a back-rub. Darry is always pulling muscles; he roofs houses and he's always trying to carry two bundles of roofing up the ladder. I knew Soda would put him to sleep, because Soda can put about anyone out when he sets his head to it. I was in my room waiting for Dally. I heard Soda and Pony talking in the room next to me. I couldn't really understand them but I heard a few words. Marry, Sandy, school, tuff. Soda wanted to marry Sandy? Oh goodness. I wonder if they had talked about it or anything. Did he all ready have a ring? My thoughts were interrupted by the loud knock on my window. I waited, and Dally entered. I rolled over to look at him.

"Are you glad to be back to the world of the living?"

"Ecstatic," he said, closing the small distance between us.

"I've missed you."

"You mean you didn't have any fun while I was gone?"

I pulled back, "Why? Did you?"

"I like you jealous."

"Don't make it happen often," I said bringing his head down to mine. I deepened the kiss, opening his mouth and inhaling the scent that I had missed so dearly. His hand cupped my neck and brought me closer, his other arm pulled me by my waist. I straddled him as he pushed me on to my back. His t-shirt was wet because of the rain and there was a small tear just above his abs. I ripped it open.

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Dally was waiting with me for Johnny and Pony under the street light at the corner of Pickett and Sutton, and since they got there early, we had time to go over the drugstore in the shopping center and goof around. We bought Cokes and blew the straws at the waitress, and they walked around eying things that were lying out in the open until the manager got wise to us and suggested we leave. He was too late, though; Dally walked out with two packages of Kools under his jacket.

Then we went across the street and down Sutton a little way to The Dingo. We walked around talking to all the greasers and hoods we knew, leaning in car windows or hopping into the back seats, and getting in on who was running away, and who was in jail, and who was going with who, and who could whip who, and who stole what and when and why. We knew about everybody there. There was a pretty good fight while we were there between a big twenty-three-year-old greaser and a Mexican hitchhiker. We left when the switchblades came out, because the cops would be coming soon and nobody in his right mind wants to be around when the fuzz show.

We crossed Sutton and cut around behind Spencer's Special, the discount house. By then it was dark enough to sneak in over the back fence of the Nightly Double drive-in movie. It was the biggest in town, and showed two movies every night, and on weekends four- you could say you were going to the Nightly Double and have time to go all over town.

We all had the money to get in- it only costs a quarter if you're not in a car- but Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn't care whether there was a law or not. He went around trying to break laws. We went to the rows of seats in front of the concession stand to sit down. Nobody else was there except two girls who were sitting down front. Dally eyed them coolly, then walked down the aisle and sat right behind them. I had a sick feeling that Dally was up to his usual tricks, and I was right. He started talking, loud enough for the two girls to hear. He started out bad and got worse. Dallas could talk awful dirty if he wanted to and I guess he wanted to then. I hit him on his arm and he eyed me coolly.

"I'm going to go get a Coke. Johnny, will you come with me?" we both got up and walked to the concession stand without trouble.

"Don't pay attention to how Dally acts in public," Johnny was a good advice-giver, when he talked. "He really does like you."

"I know," I replied with a sigh, "I just, I don't like him talking to other girls like that. It shouldn't bother me because he won't do anything, but…still."

"How do you know that?" Johnny asked, honestly curious.

"Because he knows I'll leave him."

He smiled at me and paid for our Cokes.

Slowly walked back to our seats, I saw Dally making his way towards the snack stand but he looked so angry that I wanted to wait a little while until he calmed down, besides, Pony would tell me when we sat down.

I noticed that the Soc girls were talking to Pony. That bothered me for some reason. We sat down and I said a curt 'hello' to them before turning to Pony.

"What's got Dally so riled up?"

The redheaded Soc answered, "He was being an ass so I told him to get lost."

"Yea he can be that way," I answered bitterly.

Dally came striding back with an armful of Cokes. He handed one to each of the girls and sat down beside Cherry. "This might cool you off."

She gave him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face. "That might cool you off, greaser. After you wash your mouth and learn to talk and act decent, I might cool off, too."

Dally wiped the Coke off his face with his sleeve and smiled dangerously. I knew that smile.

"Fiery, huh? Well, that's the way I like 'em." He started to put his arm around her, and I slapped him.

He looked back at me, shocked. "You promised me!" I high-tailed it out of there.

"Lana. Lana wait!" he yelled after me, but I didn't stop walking. "Lana, come back here!" he grabbed my arm and whirled me around.

"You promised me," I said slowly angry evident in my tone.

"You're right, I did."

"So you know what happens when you break promises."

"I'm sorry," he said honestly.

I stared at him for a moment, "Prove it." And so he did. He pulled me into him and our lips connected. It was apologetic and sweet. I noticed that he always seemed to express his emotions through his kisses. I guess it was because he didn't know any other way to express himself.

I pulled away, "Walk me home?" I asked.

He smirked and wrapped his arm around me as we strolled down the streets of town.

**So what did y'all think? Did you like it? Hate it? Love it? Well I'll never know if you don't tell me! So again...REVIEW!**


	10. Timothy Shepard and Revelations

The walk home was quiet, considering it was Friday night. I appreciated that, but felt bad for the poor sap that apparently had all the attention of the Socs, but not bad enough for it to ruin my evening.

Steve and Soda were at our house with their girls, thankfully they were just sitting watching TV. I don't really know how I would've reacted to see them making-out with their girlfriends on our couch. Dally and I decided to join them, but we sat on the floor because there wasn't enough room on the couch for all of us.

I heard angry footsteps on the porch steps and then the door burst open. It was Tim Shepard.

"You son of a bitch," he said angrily coming towards Dally. Soda and Steve positioned themselves protectively in front of their girlfriends.

"What do you want Sheppard?" I asked angrily. He would not ruin my night.

"That," he pointed to Dally, "son of a bitch slashed my tires!"

Dally just rolled his neck, cracking it, "Whatcha gonna do about it, Shepard?" Tim got closer to us and grabbed Dally's shirt near the collar.

"I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do about it…" he trailed off as he raised his fist like he was going to hit him.

I put my hand on his wrist. "Tim," I said quickly, but Soda beat me to it.

"Tim, you and Dally take this outside. I won't have any fightin' in my house. Not in front of the girls," Soda's voice has hard and demanding. Tim looked at him, and then dropped his hand forcefully. Tim obviously didn't want to wait, but he respected Soda because he was Darry's brother. Tim turned and started towards the door, Dally got up to follow him. I grabbed his arm to make him look at me.

"Dally. No blades okay?" He nodded, and then he took my face in his hand and quickly pressed his lips to mine. Tim will fight fair if Dally doesn't pull a blade on him. Dally shouldn't have any trouble. I watched him walk out that door, and I prayed that he wouldn't get beat too bad.

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He didn't come back that night. I could only assume that he had gone to his room at Buck's after the fight. That's probably where he was. Either that or dead, but Dallas wouldn't be dead. Tim wouldn't kill his buddy.

It was around two in the morning, and Pony wasn't home. I hoped he hadn't gotten into any trouble. The opening of our door interrupted my thoughts. "Where the heck have you been?" I stepped out of my room, "Do you know what time it is?" He was madder than I'd seen him in a long time. Pony shook his head wordlessly.

"Well, it's two in the morning, kiddo. Another hour and I would have had the police out after you. Where were you, Ponyboy?"- his voice was rising- "Where in the almighty universe were you?"

"I... I went to sleep in the lot..."

"You what?" He was shouting, and Sodapop sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, Ponyboy," he said sleepily, "where ya been?"

"I didn't mean to." He pleaded with Darry. "I was talking to Johnny and we both dropped off..."

"I reckon it never occurred to you that your family might be worrying their heads off and afraid to call the police because something like that could get you all thrown in a home so quick it'd make your head spin. And you were asleep in the lot? Ponyboy, what on earth is the matter with you? Can't you use your head? You haven't even got a coat on."

I could see tears begin to form in his eyes. Tears of anger. "I said I didn't mean to..."

"I didn't mean to!" Darry shouted, "I didn't think! I forgot! That's all I hear out of you! Can't you think of anything?"

"Darry..." Sodapop began, but Darry turned on him. "You keep your trap shut! I'm sick and tired of hearin' you stick up for him."

He should never yell at Soda. Nobody should ever holler at my brother. Pony exploded. "You don't yell at him!" he shouted. Darry wheeled around and slapped him so hard that it knocked him against the door.

Suddenly it was deathly quiet. We had all frozen. Nobody in my family had ever hit anyone else. Nobody. Soda was wide-eyed. Darry looked at the palm of his hand where it had turned red and then looked back at Pony. His eyes were huge. "Ponyboy..." he turned and ran out the door and down the street as fast as he could. Darry screamed, "Pony, I didn't mean to!"

I stared at him, slack-jawed, "What have you done?" Darry stared at me in disbelief.

"I…I…"

"What have you done!

I screamed before I ran out the door. I had to find Dally. Dally would know what to do. Dally could handle this because I sure as hell couldn't.

I had always known that Darry would snap sooner or later, I just wished it hadn't been Pony. Soda or I could've handled it better than Pony. He was just a kid.

Buck's place was in full swing and it took me a little while to find Dally. Thankfully he was in his room so it really didn't take very long. I knocked on the door in a hurry. I could feel the tears begin to form and I wanted to be in private before they started spilling out.

"Dally. Dally open up it's me!" I yelled when he didn't answer the door right away. If he was in there with some broad…but he wasn't, and I felt guilty even thinking it. I gripped his torso tightly and hot tears spilled across his bare chest. He hugged me back uncertainly. I could tell he was very confused about what was going on.

"Ponyboy…Darry…He, he hit him…he ran away…."was all I managed to choke out. Dally pulled me away from his so he could look at me.

"Lana, what happened? Did Darry hit Pony?"

I simply nodded

"And he ran away," I nodded again, but this time managed to choke out 'Yes' and more tears came. I was almost sobbing now.

"I'm so scared," I admitted. I never would have told anyone else that I was scared. He pulled me back to his chest and stroked my hair.

"Shh, shh, calm down Lana. Calm down. Everything's gonna be okay. I promise. I'll make everything okay," it was that moment when I realized Dally loved me, even if he would never say it.

I gripped him tighter and felt him tense for a moment. He was hurt.

"Dally, you're hurt."

"Yea, Ol' Tim sure can pack a punch. He won't be able to see outta one eye for a week," he said with on almost-laugh.

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, yea I'm fine. You don't need to mother me. I've had worse before."

"Sorry."

"Don't be," he said softly. I looked up at him to see his eyes shine with an emotion I knew he had rarely felt before. It was that moment that I realized just how much I loved Dallas Winston.

It happened before I could really realize what was going on. His arms were still around me and his lips were locked with mine. He pulled me closer, if that was even possible, and his hand ran up my side. He lifted me up and sat me down so that my feet were on top of his large ones. I was about a head shorter than him so I had had to stand on my tiptoes and apparently he wasn't having any of that. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I deepened the kiss. I slowly ran my foot up his leg until he grabbed it and held it in place around his hip. I pulled myself up so that my other leg wrapped around him and he walked backwards to his bed.

He threw me down in a playful way before attacking my lips with his own. His kisses were fierce and hungry and with each one I wanted more. My shirt slipped off my shoulder and Dally grabbed the collar and ripped it open.

"Hey now," I said playfully, "That was a decent shirt."

"Consider it pay back," he said before trailing kisses down my neck and onto my shoulder. He ran his fingers down my arm before he grasped my wrist and moved it to around his neck. I trailed one finger down his chest and abs until I reached his pants where I somehow managed to unbutton them one-handed. They were gone in a flash along with my bra. My skimpy skirt wasn't an obstacle, it was cheap, a hand-me-down from Stacy. My underwear, however, were fairly nice so Dally was delicate. There was no one to interrupt us tonight. No one we had to worry about, nothing to keep Dally from claiming his prize.

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His lips pressed to mine, once, twice, three times. The night had been perfect and everything I had imagined and more. We were entangled with each other and the bedding. I laid my head on his chest and he gently stroked my hair. I wanted nothing more than for this moment to last forever, but greasers never get what they want.

Someone knocked on the door and then said "Dally, someone named Pony and his friend Johnny are askin' for ya. Say they killed a Soc." I sat up immediately.

"What?" I was astonished. Johnny would never hurt a fly, much less kill someone unless…unless they were going to… That thought scared me even more.

He turned my face so I could look at him. "Lana. Lana listen to me. You go home. Go home and sort things out with Darry. I'll take care of the kids. Everything'll be fine. I promise."

"You've broken promises before."

He sighed and looked down. For a moment he almost looked…ashamed? "I know," he looked back up at me, "but I won't break this one."

I kissed him quickly before I got up to grab my clothes. I put them on in a hurry and Dally put on his pants. My shirt was ruined so I looked at Dally. He realized the problem and handed me one of his. I smiled to myself as I put it on. I had heard that it was every guy's fantasy to see his girl in his clothing. I hope I looked as good as he hoped.

The shirt was huge on me but I didn't care. It smelled like him. I walked towards the door and turned back to him.

"Take care of them, okay?"

He smirked, "I will." He pecked my mouth and I closed the door behind me.

I took the back way out because I didn't want to encounter Pony and Johnny. I wasn't ashamed; I just didn't want to deal with them. I ran home, trembling at the thought of facing Darry. The porch light was on. Maybe they were asleep and I could sneak in, I thought. I peeked in the window. Sodapop was stretched out on the sofa, sound asleep, but Darry was in the armchair under the lamp, reading the newspaper. I gulped, and opened the door softly. Darry looked up from his paper. He was on his feet in a second. I stood there, chewing on my fingernail.

"Where the heck have you been? Do you know what time it is?" I felt de ja vu from earlier that night and I didn't want to have the same results to I just spit it out.

"They killed a Soc," That shut Darry up.

"WHAT?" he bellowed. I was almost certain that our neighbors could hear.

"Pony and Johnny, they killed a Soc. That's all I know. They came to see Dally and I…I was with him, but he made me leave before he talked to them. He'll take care of them."

It was silent for a moment and I realized that Soda had woken up.

"I don't believe it," he said quietly. "I can't believe they…"

"I think they were jumped," I blurt out. It was the only explanation that fit. Neither Johnny nor Ponyboy would hurt anyone unless they had to. They had to have been jumped.

Darry sighed, "Yea, probably," he said with resignation. I knew he felt guilty, but I couldn't comfort him right now.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until Dally comes," I said before I headed off to my room. All I really wanted right now was a good night's sleep. And a smoke. But that would have to wait until morning.

**So what did y'all think? Also, no one got the reference so I'm assuming you all have no taste in television JK! Anyway, it was 'preevening' and it was from The Big Bang Theory. I don't remember what episode it was but I just remember him explaining preevening to someone. It's to differentiate between afternoon and evening, so obviously it's pre-evening (but you say it preev-ning). Anyway REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW! I only go tow reviews for the last chapter and that made me really sad. I hope people are actually reading this and if you've stopped because I keep making mistakes, tell me and I'll fix them. I would HATE for my grammar (which really isn't bad) to be the reason someone doesn't like my story. I LOVE ALL MY READERS BUT I DON'T KNOW I HAVE ANY UNLESS YOU REVIEW. Even if you just say 'good chapter' or 'can't wait to see what happens' it literally makes my day when I see a review.**

**So REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!**


	11. Lies and Explanations

**I'm not going to insult your intelligence my making some lame excuse about why I haven't written recently, it's because I just haven't.**

**And I promise this story will have a happy ending...for Lana. Let me know about any typos and mistakes because I'm posting it kind of late and I don't have time to proof read but I WILL fix stuff if you let me know about it.**

Dally didn't come to my window that night. I didn't expect him to but it still hurt. Dally was my rock, the one constant in my hectic life.

He also helped with the nightmares.

It really was the same nightmare, but it was so frightening it should count for more than one. It started just after that first night. The night after I fell asleep in his arms at the hospital.

It started out with Ponyboy, he was killed in a fire, then Johnny, shot by some rouge greasers. Then everybody else got in a huge fight, like a rumble, but worse, but then came the worst part of all. I watched as my two remaining brothers beat Dally until the cops came and shot them. It was a war zone and all I could do was stand and watch. I could scream and tell them to stop, I could run and pull them apart. I couldn't do anything. I was helpless. I had no control.

Tonight it was worse than usually, everything lasted longer. The shot rang out and the bullets went in slow motion. I could scream but no one heard me. I ran to them and tried pulling them apart but they kept beating each other. I could help, but they wouldn't listen.

I screamed and screamed but I suddenly heard my name. I stopped and listened. I heard my name again and this time, someone was shaking me. My world went dark and then unbelievably, blindingly, bright, but then the light was blocked by a face, Darry's face. I grabbed the front of his shirt and clung to him, sobbing.

My brothers had rarely seen my cry, especially Darry. You didn't cry in front of Darry. Ever. Even though I was the kid sister, Darry didn't let me cry, so my uncontrollable sobbing scared them a little.

"You're, you're okay. You're okay," I said between sobs, "You're still here."

"Yes Lana, we're here. Me an' Soda, we're here, and we ain't goin' no where," Darry awkwardly stroked my hair, trying to offer me comfort.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, me clinging to Darry's shirt as if my life depended on it, and him, trying to offer me comfort.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I paused, "Not really."

"Lana, it's not good to keep everything inside. You have to let stuff out."

I knew he was right, but I didn't like admitting I was weak. Darry had already seen me cry enough today, that was enough to shake him.

I pondered how I was going to explain this is him, how my dream was everything that I never wanted to happen. That I was scared.

"It was the dream. A nightmare. They had stopped for a while because Dally was here, but tonight…tonight he wasn't here.

'It was horrible, e-everyone was fighting and-and I couldn't…I couldn't d-do anything," I didn't mean to start crying again, it just happened. Darry hugged me closer and I cried again, not as hard as before, but hard enough.

The arms were strong and supportive, warm and inviting, but they weren't the arms I wanted, the ones I needed. But they were good enough.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Breakfast was simple, eggs and toast. The gang was in the living room, waiting for Dally, but I was sitting on the porch rail, eating my toast. I wanted to see him first. I needed to see him first.

I recognized his silhouette first, his slightly bulkier upper half because of his leather jacket, his arm moving at regular intervals because of his cigarette. As he got closer I could make out defining features, even the faint light of the tip of his cig as he smoked it. Normally I would have run to him and embraced him, but I wanted him to make the first move. I wanted reassurance that he was mine, that he wanted me.

He walked up the few steps and then turned to where I was. My back was to him, which was my plan. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arm around me and silently rested his cheek against the top of my head. I leaned into him and nuzzled his neck while he extinguished his finished cigarette.

"I missed you," I half-whispered.

His other hand reached for the hand where his ring was, he fingered it for a moment before speaking.

"Come on, I know they're waiting." He stepped away, allowing me to get off the rail. He still had my hand, but now he properly held it as we entered my house.

All conversation stopped as soon as he walked in the room, all eyes turned to him expecting an explanation. He nudged my arm, silently telling me that I needed to join the others. I sat in between Darry and Soda, knowing I would need the support of brothers this time.

"Where are they?"

"What happened?"

"Are they okay?"

"What do you know?"

Questions rang out from everyone creating a jumble of disjointed words and phrases.

"Slow down ya'll, I'll answer all yer questions, promise," he pulled up the chair, especially reserved for him. "I'll start at the beginning, they were in the park, they got jumped, and Johnny stabbed one of 'em.

After a while, they came to me, askin' me for help. I told them to haop a train to Texas-"

"Well we gotta go get 'em!" Two-Bit yelled. Steve and Soda mumbled their agreements but Darry soon quieted them. Dally frowned at the idea.

"Goin' and getting' 'em won't do any good. I told 'em to hide out 'til this whole thing blows over."

"Dally," Darry began, "I don't know how it is in New York, but things like this won't just 'blow over' here."

"The law's the law and everywhere it's the same. After a while, the cops'll forget about this and the case'll go cold, no problem."

"It's not that you don't get it, you don't care."

"Darry!" I exclaimed.

"Lana, I know he's your-"

"Darry that's irrelevant! Do you realize what you're accusing him of?" I stood up.

'Lana, I don't need you to lecture me-"

"Maybe you do!"

"Lana," I felt a hand touch my arm and whirled around to see Two-Bit, 'calm down. We shouldn't be going after them," he resolved.

I took a few deep breathes and sat down on the floor at the space between Two-Bit and Soda's legs.

Dally began talking again, saying that they would be fine and that when things calmed down a bit we could come up with a plan. I zoned out for a bit. Dally seemed like he was hiding something, no one else would be able to tell, but I knew him the best. The littlest things, the smallest change in the expression in his eyes, told me everything. There was something he wasn't telling us. I couldn't call him out now, I would have to wait for when we were alone, but I didn't know when that would next be. I would have to make it happen on my own.

The guys hung around for a while but Dally said he 'stuff to take care of'.

"Dally, wait," I got up from my seat on the floor and wrapped my arms around him before continuing, "Could we talk? In my room?" I half whispered. His face remained impassive, but he followed where I led.

I closed the door behind us and he leaned against the wall by my window, lighting a cigarette. I turned to him, my back against the door.

"Dally," I began, "where are they?"

"I already told y'all, they ran off to Texas."

"No, where are they really?"

He moved away from the wall, taking a few steps towards me.

"Lana, I already tol-"

"Dallas! When are you going to just stop lying?" why couldn't he just tell me? Why couldn't he just tell me? What was he hiding form me? Why was he hiding from me?

He sighed, "Lana, I can't."

"You can't? You can't tell me where they are? Where my brother is? Do you know what they're doing? They are running form the law! They could get in even more trouble because of this! But you don't care do you because you're Dallas Winston the roughest toughest greaser in town and who doesn't care about anything or anyone. Who lies to get what he wants. You don't care. You never did."

He slammed his fist against the wall, "Dammit Lana! Why do you have to be so goddamn frustrating? I can't tell you! And for your information, I'm helping them!"

"Helping them? Helping them? How the hell are you helping them?"

"Lana, you don't understand!"

'Then help me to," I said softly looking directly at him.

He turned away from me and slapped the wall again.

"Well if you won't let me understand then you can just get out!" that made him turn around. He came right up to me and put one hand against the door.

"You want me to get out? Huh? Really? You really want me gone?"

I stared at him with a hard expression on my face. "Out. Now." I stated simply.

Suddenly his hand was on my side, not in the normal, soft way, but in a hard, forceful way. He swiftly jerked his arm and I was pushed into the corner. My head slammed against the to conjoining walls and I cried out in surprise and pain. He forcefully opened the door and stormed out of my room. I got up and held the back of my head, tears beginning to form. The guys jumped up at the sight of a furious Dally and a teary me. I quickly got up and walked through the room, ignoring the shouts from my brothers and friends.

The door was still open from where Dally had exited and I stepped onto the porch. He wasn't too far away yet; I could still make out the details of his leather jacket.

"Dallas Winston you can go to hell! Got to hell for all I care Dallas! Because I don't!" he stopped and turned around before flipping me the bird. I ribbed his ring off my finger and threw it at him. "Damn you Dallas Winston," he effortlessly caught his ring. He paused for a moment, and then turned away and continued walking.


	12. Repercussions

**Yea, yea, yea, I know, it's been a while. But, again, I'm updating with my mother breathing down my neck to get off hte computer and go to bed so let me know about mistakes and I'll probably re-read this a few times and fix things that I find but for right now, here it is!**

I wasn't sad, yet. I was running on too much anger to be sad. I had already cried too much to cry now. I could still feel the weight of his ring on my finger, the spot burned where the ring used to be. I looked at my hand; it looked empty now without the ring. I

I didn't regret it, yet. I was too angry and hurt to regret. I hadn't regretted anything in my life, not even Two-Bit. He had helped me. He helped me discover who I was, what I was, and what I could do.

I had always seen the girls the guys brought home and thought little of them. Their skirts were too short and they always had on too much make-up. I was around sometimes when they were talking about the things they did with their slutty girlfriends. I had sworn that I would not become like them because I thought they were weak, and I wasn't weak. But Two-Bit had helped me discover just how much power their slutty girlfriends had over them, the same power I could have, the power I do have.

I could go back to Two-Bit now, Dally and I were no longer an item, he couldn't say anything. But I knew that wasn't what I really wanted. I still wanted Dally, even after everything I knew I would still go crawling back to him, he had me sunk. Totally, and completely sunk. And there was no going back now.

I was calming down when I suddenly felt the throbbing in my head. The realization struck, he had hit me. Thrown me against the wall with intent to harm me. I had known this side of Dally and had witnessed it several times, but he had never lashed out at me before. We had fought before, exchanged cruel words, and I had slapped him, but something always stopped him from physical retaliation. But not this time, and that was just another line I had let him cross.

I knew I wouldn't be able to stay here for long, they would come looking for me, but I wanted to stay out here, where I could be alone, and not have to see their stares, answer their questions, accept that I was weak because I wasn't. I wasn't weak and they knew that. But did I still believe it? I had let Dally in farther than anybody. I told him my secrets and truly, honestly let him see me, the real me. And now he was gone. Forever. My sunken ship had broken in two, no, more than two. More like two million. And this time there was no one to pick up the pieces. No diver would excavate these barren and deserted remains. No one cared enough to put the ship back together. It would never be whole again. I would never be the same.

I heard the door open and turned to see whom it was intruding on my own personal pity-party.

"Two-Bit?" Shit. I really didn't want to deal with him right now.

"Yea. Listen, I know you really don't want to see me right now but," he sat down beside me, propped himself up on one arm, and turned towards me, "I'm free tonight, if you were wondering," he said with that cocky-ass grin on his face that could always make me laugh.

I laughed a little before I smacked his arm. "In your dreams."

"Well you know I met a genie last night and she promised to make all my dreams some true," he gestured broadly with arms and had a smile plastered on his face.

"Oh really?" I asked, playing along with his attempt to cheer me up, "So tell me about this genie? Was she pretty? Prettier than Kathy?" I had discovered the name of Two's beloved a while back at one of Buck's parties. She seemed okay and she always laughed at Two-Bit's jokes, but that might just be because she wanted him to sleep with her.

"Prettier than Sandy," he replied earnestly.

"Prettier than Sandy, huh?"

"Yup, prettier than Sandy."

"You know I heard a rumor about Sandy at school the other day," He looked at me, interested, "Someone said that she was pregnant."

He was quiet for a moment, "Is it Soda's?" he asked quietly.

"Probably," and then the realization hit. Soda was no innocent; I had been in on bull sessions and his bragging was as loud as anyone's. But never about Sandy. Not ever about Sandy. I remembered how her blue eyes had glowed when she looked at him, and I was sorry for her.

There was a heavy silence. "Shit," I said, just for something to break the silence.

"Do you think she's told him yet?"

"Naw, he'duv told us if he knew," there was silence again and I hated it. It gave me time to think about Dally.

"But it was just a rumor, it might not be true," I said wistfully.

"Yea, it might not be."

I suddenly shivered because of the nippy air.

"Ya cold, Lana?" I answered with another shiver, "Come one, let's get you on inside. I can bet the guys'll be wanting to ask ya a few questions 'bout whether they need to kick Dally's ass or not." I helped me get to my feet.

I don't know what came over me then, but I grabbed his arm. "Well I have a question for you," he cocked an eyebrow, "Are you really free tonight?" I asked, puffing out my chest a bit.

He smirked and placed a hand against the wall beside my head, striking a very Dally-like pose, no Lana. Don't think about him, focus on Two-Bit, you need a distraction. "Back to your whore-ish ways already?"

I ran my finger down his chest and then looked back into his swirling, grey eyes. "Maybe," I said in a coy tone I knew he couldn't resist.

He leaned forwards slowly and I closed my eyes awaiting his kiss, but it didn't come.

"Not tonight, Lana," he whispered in my ear and then leaned away.

I opened my eyes and pouted. "Why not? You were more than happy to before."

"Yea," he said, leaning away from me, "well I don't really like to cross swords, and besides, you don't really want me. You want a distraction," he turned away and took a step towards the door.

"That's all you were before," I said slightly louder than before.

He stopped. "I know," he said in a quiet voice that I couldn't quite place.

He took another step and I grabbed his arm, he turned.

"Walk in with me?" I really didn't want to face them alone.

"Sure, " he said, back to his old self. He slung his arm around my shoulders, "Why the hell not?" We walked into the living room to see Steve, Darry, and Soda passed out in their respective spots.

"Guess they didn't want to see be very badly," I muttered, earning a laugh from Two-Bit.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My night was devoid of nightmares that night, instead, they were replaced by very, very naughty dreams of a certain Dallas Winston. It almost embarrassed me to think about it, almost.

The house was unusually quiet for our house, I was usually awoken to the ruckus of pubescent guys or Soda's abuse via pillow, but then the events of the past few days crashed down on me, hard.

I decided to get out and face the world, even though I was clad in a frumpy, yet warm, sweatshirt and a pair of Soda's old pajama pants. Not exactly armor, but it would have to do.

Breakfast was my first priority, since it was a school day. I didn't feel like getting creative, so the guys would just have to deal with eggs, again. I had just cracked the first egg on the skillet when I happened to glance at the clock on our wall. It read 10:30.

"Well shit," the Darry must have let me sleep late. Now what was I supposed to do today?

I decided to go ahead and finish the eggs before getting dressed, just in case I decided to go out before everyone got home. It was a good thing I did because at about fifteen after twelve, Two-Bit came to the house.

I was sitting, watching at mind-numbing show on television, when I heard his obnoxiousness coming towards the house.

He burst through the door, beer in hand. "Skipping again, Two?"

He stumbled over to the sofa where I was sitting and splayed himself across it, his head winding up on my lap. "Nope, I'm coming to take you back with me."

"You're taking me back to school?" I asked confused. "Why?"

"So you can learn!" He ruffled my hair, causing me to laugh.

"You'recutewhenyoulaugh," he mumbled in his drunken stupor.

"What was that Two?"

"I said you're cute when you laugh!" he yelled back at me.

I laughed more, "Get up Two-Bit."

"Naw, I think I'll stay right here."

"In my lap?"

He looked at me with that goofy grin of his, "I meant the couch you dirty girl," he gently slapped my cheek several times before he kindly removed himself from my lap. We continued laughing and before I knew it, we were tangled up in each other on the floor, laughing both our heads off for no reason.


	13. In the Quiet

*********_**IMPORTANT!**_************

**UGH! This is SO SHORT! I wanted to get this up because it's a little important, but it's so short because if I had kept writing, it would have wound up being me writing nothingness and kind of boringness and I didn't that that my few (but faithful!) followers would appreciate that...so I went ahead and put this up. I might add more later but I needed to get this up because I needed to move on, but I still had some stuff to say. The next chapter(s) will be more plot developy and important (we are nearing the end :( and for once I know EXACTLY what will happen. I might write a sequel but I might not write it because I think I can write the important parts in an epliogue and I want to move on to another prokect that is NAGGING ME!**

**Wow that was a good rant, but I felt that you all should know the basic information on what's to come and there it is!  
**

**Aaaaaaaaaaaaand now to the part you care about!**

He managed to wrestle himself on top of me. We were still laughing until it turned into heavy breathing. We stared at each other for a few moments before he broke the silence.

"Well this is familiar," he said in a slightly slurred, yet husky tone with his usual cocked eyebrow.

"Hm," I mused, while I ran a finger up and down his chest, "I guess it is." What possessed me to act this way around him? Was it that I missed Dally? It must be the lack of regular sex, but was I that much of an addict already? Was it that I knew what to expect out of Two-Bit compared to the brash and unpredictability of Dally? It would have to be a combination. That was the only solution.

He sighed at my reaction to his playfully joking comment. "Lana, I'm supposed to get you back to school."

"Supposed to. And this won't be the first time I've skipped."

"Is sex really the only thing on your mind?"

"What can I say? I'm a horny teenage girl. What do you expect?"

"So I have turned you into a slut."

"I thought you said only blondes were sluts!"

"We could dye your hair blonde. Just get a bottle of peroxide and…"

"I'm not dying my hair Two-Bit!"

He leaned closer to me, "Well you do know I prefer blondes."

"Oh really?"

"Are you thinking about dying your hair now?"

"I don't know, I think Dally likes me brown."

His face darkened at eh mention of Dallas.

"Dallas Winston? You're still talking about him?"

This sudden turn in the conversation startled me. "Two-Bit, what are you talking about?"

He sat up completely, "That bastard hit you Lana!"

I continued to stare at him, bewildered, "I-it was an accident."

He turned away from me slightly, "You always did want to find the good in people."

"What are you saying?" I asked, suddenly getting defensive.

"I'm saying that there is no good in Dallas Winston!"

I turned away from him, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do Lana. Yes I do. I think I just might know better than you do."

I whirled my head around to look at him "You don't know him like I do!"

"Is that what you tell yourself?" he asked looking at me.

"Tell myself what?" I asked, getting angry.

"That you understand him."

"No one understands Dally," I admitted, "but I get him. We're both the outsiders, not totally accepted, always hanging on the edge of coming and going. Never quite knowing what to expect from people. Whether the people we know will still be there, still accept us. We have no true ties here, no true family, only friends, and friends come and go." I didn't realize that I had started crying until I felt Two-Bit's arms wrap around me and hold me close. I turned into his embrace and cried against his chest.

After what seemed hours, he finally broke the silence.

" So, I guess you don't really want to go back to school now, huh?"

I shook my head, no. All I wanted to do know was lay around and do nothing.

He got up to leave but I pulled on his arm, "No, stay." My tone was slightly cracked because of the tears and my expression showed that I didn't want him to stay for sex I wanted him for comfort.

He sighed, and sat back down. I sat in his lap, and he wrapped his arms around me. I leaned back into his body and felt the toned muscles that made up his torso.

A few more tears leaked out of my eyes while he held me. My head was trying to focus on Two-Bit, what I was missing in school anything! But my heart was solely focused on the fact that these arms weren't Dally's. No matter how hard I tried to forget about him, he kept coming back. I didn't think I would ever be able to let him go, and, even though I might not admit it, I hoped that he wouldn't let me go, either.

**Di you read that Author's Note at the beginning? No? Well you should becasue it's SO IMPORTANT!**


	14. Alleys

**Really, this is just a continuation of chapter 13 but I didn't want to put up a new chapter 13 so I put it up as a new chapter.**

**I estimate about...8-ish chapters and DEFINATLY an Epilogue. **

**Enjoy!  
**

He stayed with me for a little while longer, but Two-Bit can't stay still that long. We decided to visit Soda and Steve at the DX. I was reluctant at first, but in the end I went with him (and by "went with him" I mean, he literally picked me up, kicking and screaming, and carried me out the door until we were far enough away from the house that I couldn't make it back to the house before him).

After he set me down, we walked side-by-side, but when we got closer he started jumping around and acting the fool, which, of course, made me laugh. We opened the door and saw the usual sight of Soda surrounded by a hoard of girls. He was totally at home in the crowd, getting all the attention.

"Hey, Soda!" I yelled jokingly. He turned to us and his smile got impossibly wider. He managed to extract himself from the girls and loped over to where Two-Bit and I stood. We sat at the nearest table to us and talked. We talked about school mostly, along with football, fights, and anything but the 500 lb purple gorilla in the room. Ponyboy and Johnny, or should I say the lack thereof. Soda told a particularly funny story about something one of the girls did and we burst into laughter, but the door opening interrupted it. We looked up at the door and my heart simultaneously stopped and jumped up into my throat. It was Dally.

Steve was just coming out of the shop part of the DX to work the front. He stopped wiping his hands on a rag the moment he saw Dally, but quickly gained his composure. Dally walked up the front, leaned against the counter, and started talking to Steve in a low voice we couldn't overhear. After a few moments he turned and made his way to the front when Soda grabbed his attention.

"Hey, Dal, come over here!"

Dallas turned and walked the few steps to where we were sitting. I scooted closer to Two-Bit who started to put his arm around my waist but then thought better of it. Dallas stood beside the table, one hand in his pocket, and one hand holding the cigarette he was smoking.

"I have something I need to give you," Soda said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a folded piece of paper that he handed to Dally. I had caught Soda sitting quietly in Pony's room writing. This must have been the fruit of his labor, a letter to Pony. "If you go down to see him, can you give this to him please?"

Dally silently nodded and put the letter in his pocket. He then turned to me.

"Lana, can I talk to you?" This startled me. I wasn't expecting it. I turned to look at Soda, who told me with his eyes that I shouldn't go with Dally. That immediately made up my mind.

I got up and quickly walked out of the DX and didn't turn around until we were in the alley beside it. I turned suddenly to face him and I realized just how close he was to me when I ran in to his chest.

He clutched me to him, "Do you really think I would let you go so easily?" he murmured into my hair.

I pushed against his restraints "I wish you would." As much as I loved him and wanted it back, I didn't want it to be like this. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. I didn't want this to me be crawling back to him and forgetting everything. What he did was unacceptable and he needed to prove himself.

He tensed. My answer was apparently unexpected, but didn't he understand?

"What?" he asked through his teeth.

"You heard me," I said quickly. Why was I suddenly being so…so strange?

His reaction was swift. His hand clamped down on my arm and I found myself against the wall.

"What did you say to me?" he was angry. I had seen him worse but never directed at me. It scared me.

"Dally, Dallas stop. You're scaring me."

"What are you saying Lana? You want me gone? Is that what you want?" the sense of de je vu was overwhelming.

"Dally, Dally just stop. Listen to me!" he got closer, our faces were almost touching.

"Why should I?" his grip on my arm tightened becoming almost too tight.

Tears began to form and I squeezed my eyes shut to try and hold them back.

"Dally, please. Just-" he stopped me with his lips. It was quick; he was trying to trip me up and persuade me.

"Listen to me now," he peppered me with kisses everywhere. On my face, my neck, under my ears, everywhere he could get. It made me crazy. After only a few moments of it, I couldn't contain myself. With my free hand I cupped his face and brought it to mine.

I kissed him passionately, with all the emotions that I hadn't been able to let out with him gone. He let go of my arm and put it behind my head to bring me closer. Since my arm was now free, I wrapped both my arms around his neck. He pressed against me and put me on his feet so he could kiss me better. He ran his hand slowly up my sides until he reached my arms. He unwrapped them from around his neck and held them over my head and against the wall. He moved his lips away from mine and to the side of my neck. I gasped in pleasure and he smirked.

I had missed this. I had missed him. I had missed feeling him pressed totally against me, how perfectly we fit together, like two puzzle pieces that were always meant to be together. We were supposed to be together. We were so perfect, so the same.

He took my wrists in one hand and the other traced down my arm, my face, and my neck until he reached my shirt. It was a button up and he started teasing with the first button.

"Dally," I gasped, "Stop, Dally. Not here." He stopped and sighed.

"You're right. You're place or mine?" he asked.

"Yours. I don't think anyone would be too happy if they caught us."

He smirked and then picked me up bridal style and carried me to Buck's, kissing different parts of me as he went.

**So...what did y'all think? Do you like them being back together...kind of (they're kind of back together...I'll explain more in the next chapter).**

**Review!Review!Review!  
**


	15. Names

**Okay, so I know this is REALLY late, but I've been sick a lot recently and my homework load has, like, quadrupled. ****It's been awful.**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!  
**

Buck's place was quiet, but extremely messy. There must have been a serious party last night. I stared up at Dally's face as he carried me, glad that we were going to his room instead of my house. I didn't even want to imagine the years of house arrest that Darry would've given me if he had caught us.

Dally glanced down at me. "What are you thinkin' about?"

"Nothin'," I replied.

"I don't believe that. You're always thinkin' about somethin'."

I giggled. I didn't even know I could giggle. "Oh God, that sounded like a Soc," I said horrified.

He smirked as he reached his door. "You ready for this?" he asked, still smirking.

"Are you?"

"I asked first."

"Yea, but I could leave now and deny you the ride of your life."

"You won't though."

"Just shut up and kiss me already." That was all he needed. My senses were filled with the essence of him. His taste, the feel of his arms holding me, everything about him. Alcohol was evident on his breath, but that was as much a part of him as his cold stare. If you were to accept Dally, you had to accept every part of him. Even the bad stuff.

I felt the bed underneath me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He straddled my hips and kissed down my jawbone until he reached my neck, finding that spot that he drove he wild. He sucked gently, but when I laced my fingers in his hair, he sucked harder. I leaned my head away so he could have better access and he nipped slightly and slid my hands down the back of his neck, across his shoulder, and down his collarbones until I reached the neckline of his shirt.

This one was newer and without any tears, so I couldn't rip it apart easily. He realized this, and removed his lips from my neck so he could pull his shirt over his head. I ran my hands down his chest until I reached his pants. Instead of working on removing them, I ran my hands back up his chest, slower this time, letting my fingers dip and rise in the crevices of his abs.

He took my wrists in his and moved them over my head, similar to how I was in the alley.

"Stay," he told me, and with a smile I complied.

He moved down to the bottom of my shirt. He slowly undid the bottom button, and then moved on to the next. He continued this, but his hands were working ahead of his lips. He trailed kisses up my stomach, licking, biting, and sucking occasionally. I ran my hands up and down his arms and as he got closer, I started playing with his hair.

When my shirt was completely unbuttoned, his lips were at my bra line. He slid his hands around to my back and worked on undoing my bra. Once that was gone, I moved on to his removing his pants.

I would have him. I wanted him. I had missed his so much that I could hardly stand to not have him right then, but Dally would want to wait. He liked to prolong things because he wanted to control things. He would control when everything would happen, and I was okay with that. That was how Dally was. It was just another thing you had to accept about him.

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I was lying in his arms, catching my breath. He was asleep next to me, so when I rolled over to look at him, he didn't even stir. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. He didn't look innocent like you hear most people do, he still had an air of hatred about him, sort of like a really big, vicious dog.

I brushed the stray hairs out of his face and was amazed at how soft it was. Dally didn't like hair grease so it didn't feel anything like Pony Two-Bit's slicked back hair. The closest thing I could liken it to would be girl-hair, but I knew if I ever told him that he would kill me. I started playing with his hair, taking advantage of his sleeping state when he suddenly grabbed my hand, startling me.

"Stop that," he mumbled before releasing my hand.

"Why?" I asked.

" 'Cause I don't like it," he stated simply.

"You're so weird," I said, looking up at the ceiling.

He rolled over and pinned me down to the bed as he hovered over me. "What was that?" he asked.

"I said you're so weird," I repeated, leaning up to him and trailing kisses down his neck with each word.

He growled at this, but let me go. "That's more like it."

"Mmm," I said, still kissing his neck. "Well, I should go. Darry's probably freaking out by now," I said as I sat up, getting ready to go.

"Oh no ya don't," he gabbed me around my waist and pulled me back down to the bed with him. "I'm no finished with you yet."

"You always have to have your way, don't you?"

"Yes," he said simply before his lips captured mine.

"Dally, I have to go," I said, pulling away.

He sighed, deliberating. "You're going to keep going with this, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Go."

"Giving up so easy?"

"No. But if you won't give me what I want I can get it from someone else."

"But you won't"

"How do you know?"

"Because you don't want to loose me."

"But we broke up," he said confused.

"But we just had sex."

"But I don't date every girl I have sex with," he said, honestly not understanding.

"Damn it Dallas!" I exclaimed, pushing him off me. "Do you really not get it?"

"No. I don't. But I'm not going to ask you to explain it to my because I know you're going to anyway."

I sat up. "You're really starting to piss me off Winston!"

"Ooh. Someone's getting' angry." He said with a smirk that I wanted to slap right off his face.

"That's it. I'm leaving." I said, getting off the bed.

"Baby, wait, please," he said, sitting up.

I whirled around. "Don't call me that."

"Lana-" he started.

"No, Dallas, don't call me that. Don't call me anything, because apparently I'm not anything to you. Go find one of your whores for all I care. I don't care what you do anymore."

"Fine, maybe I will."

I glared at him before I put on my clothes and walked out the door.

**So, there you go! It's a little short I think, but it's a good lead into what's going to happen next. **

**REVIEW!  
**


	16. Leaving?

**I know this is late, but I was kind of in a rut with this chapter. It's a little bit of a filler (which I HATE!), but what happens in the end is important and really sets up the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

My walk was sadly uneventful. It seemed like anytime that I actually wanted to fight there wasn't anyone around. Buck's wasn't very far from my house, but it was far enough. About halfway home I dug in my pockets for a cigarette. I wasn't a "smoker" per say, I defiantly wasn't as Pony. I usually only smoked when I was really stressed, but I had found myself doing it more and more lately. I always kept a pack and a lighter on me for a bluff or if one of the guys needed one so I was always prepared. Once I found one, I lit it and brought it to my lips. The smoke burned, but in a good way. I was immediately calmed, but it wasn't enough. I was still too emotional. I needed to put on my façade before I walked into my house. I couldn't let the guys see how distressed and upset I was, that wasn't an option.

When I reached the front steps leading up to the porch, I dropped my cigarette and ground it up with my shoe before walking up to the door. I could hear the guys inside and smiled to my self as I opened the door. No one really noticed me because Two-Bit and Steve were wrestling on the ground. I took a sea next to Soda on the couch. He glanced at me with a strange look in his eye, but then went back to yelling at Steve. I just leaned back and tucked my feet up onto the couch so they wouldn't get smushed. That would not be a good way to end the day.

The wrestling mach finally ended with Two-Bit as the winner, even though it was very close. Steve put up a good fight but he couldn't fight back once Two-Bit started tickling him. That was how most fights with Two-Bit ended, at least when they were among friends. Two-Bit couldn't stay serious long enough when it wasn't for real.

Darry was already home and in the kitchen cooking, as usual. Tonight it was spaghetti; Darry must have had a long day. We all settled down at the table to eat when Two-Bit glanced at the clock.

"MICKEY'S ON!" he yelled as he leaped from his chair and quickly changed the station on the tv. There were two things that boy loved more than anything: his black-handled switch blade, and Mickey Mouse.

The gang ate dinner with us that night, or what was left of the gang that is. Ponyboy and Johnny were still gone and we hadn't seen Dally that day. It was unusually silent, mostly likely because we were all thinking about everyone who wasn't here. We had been doing a lot of that recently, thinking, not speaking about things. We didn't want to speak about the fact that we didn't know what was going on where ever they were.

After a little while, Steve and Two-Bit got antsy and decided to go to Buck's, I would have asked if I could go if Darry hadn't been right there, so instead I went to bed. I simply laid there and listened to the rest of my remaining family settle down. I was finally starting to get sleepy when I hear a familiar tapping on my window. I groaned before rolling out of bed to open the window. It was Dallas.

He came closer, "Can I come in?" he asked.

"Dallas what are you doing here?" I asked in return.

"I'm not gonna ask so nicely again. So are you gonna let me in or what?"

I sighed and walked away from he window. He smirked and climbed in. Once he was in he plopped on my bed.

"Why are you here Dallas?"

"I came here to say goodbye."

"What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself, Lana."

"Where are you going?"

"To get them back."

"Who? Pony and Johnny?"

"Who else? It's been long enough, things have calmed down with the police."

"What about the Socs?"

"We can deal with Socs, it's the cops that are gonna be our problem."

"Yea, I guess you're right," I mumbled and turned away from him. His arms closed around me from behind.

"Lana, I'll be fine," he whispered.

"I know that, it's Pony I'm worried about."

"I'll keep him safe, I promise."

"Johnny too?"

"Both of 'em."

"Thank you," I said and turned around to hug him. This made him uncomfortable and he awkwardly patted my back. Dallas wasn't a hugger.

We stayed there for a few seconds before he spoke.

"Okay, okay, let go. I have to leave," he separated me from him but I grabbed his shirt front.

"No, don't leave yet," I said looking up at him.

"Lana, I have to go."

"Just stay, for a little while," I ran a hand underneath his shirt, "Please?"

He groaned, "What you are you doin' to me girl?" he said before he captured my lips in his.

**Short, I know, but again, it sets up the next chapter and I was in a rut. Read and Review!**


	17. The Best Part

**Okay, so I realize that I haven't been doing a disclaimer so here one is: I DON'T OWN ****THE OUTSIDERS****, S.E. HINTON DOES!**

_Previously:_

"_No, don't leave yet," I said looking up at him._

"_Lana, I have to go."_

"_Just stay, for a little while," I ran a hand underneath his shirt, "Please?"_

_He groaned, "What you are you doin' to me girl?" he said before he captured my lips in his._

I felt the heat rush through my lips and fill my entire body. This kiss was heated and sensual and everything that I had missed from him. He had been distant ever since Pony and Johnny left and we broke up and this let me know that he was here. He was here and wouldn't leave me. At least, that was what I made myself believe.

His hands ran down my sides and I pushed my hands through his hair relishing in the fact that they didn't become saturated with grease like on other guys.

"We need to get this off you," he said, referring to my shirt.

I chuckled. "Only if you take yours off too."

"Always." His hand slipped under my shirt and slowly crept its way up. I raised my arms and he pulled it off of me. I wasn't wearing a bra, which made him smirk. He moved his lips to my neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist as he lowered me to the bed.

"Wait, wait, wait," I said quickly.

"I hate that word," he said bluntly. I smiled at how impatient he was.

"It'll just take a second," I said as my hands slid under his shirt.

"Well I can't wait," he said as he tugged his shirt over his head.

I was taken aback, "Do you not want this?" I asked.

"Oh no, I want this," he replied and he unbuttoned his pants.

"Well then why are you in such a rush?" I asked as he removed his pants displaying his hatred of the confinement underwear offered. He then began working on my pants. It just so happened that tonight, I wasn't wearing any underwear either.

"No, I just want to get to the good part," he said smirking as he laid against me. I felt him throbbing against my inner thigh and knew that the "best part" was soon to come.

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"Lana," I heard in my ear.

"Mm," I replied.

"I have to go now."

I bit my lip and nodded me head before I turned to look at the source of the voice, Dallas. "I don't want you to go yet."

"Don't you want to see the gang all together again?"

Again, I nodded. He turned to go out my window.

"Dallas," I called after him and he turned, "that was the best goodbye I've ever had." He slapped his cocky smirk on his face before he left out my window. I knew that the next time I would see him, it would be with Johnny and Ponyboy and everything would be okay again.

**Okay, so this is really short, but it sets up the rest of this section of the story, plus I'm almost finished with the next chapter and it's LONG and i might even put it up tonight, so I guess that makes up for it.**


	18. The Ribbon

**I don't own ****The Outsiders****, S.E. Hinton does. I also don't own That Was Then, This is Now which I used for most of my description of the Ribbon.  
**

"LANA!" I heard a voice sing off-key. This could only be Two-Bit, so I simply groaned and rolled over. "Lana!" I heard again, this time accompanied by an extremely heavy eighteen and a half year-old laying on me.

"God, Two-Bit, get the hell off me!" I said, irritated.

"You're so funny when you wake up," he replied, smiling.

"And you're so happy when you wake up, I don't understand it," I countered, lying back down and closing my eyes. I felt him shifting around and when I opened my eyes, he was hovering me above me with his arms on the bed on either side of my face.

"Two-Bit…" I trailed off, my mind still fuzzy from my sudden awakening.

"What?" he asked, raising one eyebrow, "Don't tell me you don't like this," he said with a smile. "And besides," he continued, "no one's here, no one will catch us."

"Two-Bit-" I began, but was quickly silenced by his lips. The taste of alcohol was evident on his breath. He was probably too drunk to even know where he was, much less what he was doing. I turned away "Two-Bit, you're drunk."

"Well yea," he replied, "When am I not?" he asked as he slowly kissed down my neck.

"Two-Bit, get off'a me," I commanded, mildly irritated.

"No," he said simply and he nursed my collarbone.

"Two-Bit, I mean it," I shoved his chest trying to push him off me when he suddenly collapsed. "Shit," How was I going to get him off me now? My question was answered when I heard someone come through our front door.

"Hey Curtis's, anyone home?"

"Tim! Oh, thank God you're here!" I had never been so glad to see Tim Shepard in my life.

"Lana?" he asked. I heard footsteps coming towards my room. He walked through my door and his eyes opened wide. "What the hell's goin' on here!"

"He passed out," and as if to prove my point, Two-Bit snored. "Just help me get him off me, Shepard." Tim walked over to us and rolled Two-Bit off me. I gasped since I was able to breath properly again. I turned my head to look at Tim before I thanked him. "Thank you. I seriously don't know what I would have done if you hadn't showed up."

"No problem, and I won't ask what he was doing there in the first place."

"I 'preciate that. Now what are you doing here?" I asked as I sat up, thankful that I had put on my pajamas last night after Dally left.

"Had a run-in with a couple Socs. 'Parently I had tried to pick up their chicks last night." It was then that I noticed the various cuts and bruises forming on his face and arms.

"Oh my god, let me look at you!" I quickly sat up.

"Naw Lana, I'm fine. Don't even worry 'bout it."

"No, lemme fix you up." He sighed and sat down on my bed. I scooted closer and gently lifted his arm to examine the extent of the damage. His arms only had a few bruises and there were a couple more on his chest, but his face held the most damage. His lip and nose were bloody and he would defiantly have a black eye. "Well you're gonna have a shiner tomorrow and you'll definitely be tender for a few days, but I don't think your nose is broken so that's good. Just let me go get some peroxide and stuff and I'll be right back," I stood up and walked towards my door before I turned away again, "And don't even think about sneaking out. Just because you're not gonna die doesn't mean that you don't need medical attention." He nodded with another sigh and I walked out. The first aid stuff was kept in the bathroom under the counter, right next to my box of make up and such things. I grabbed the peroxide, bandages, and a big wad of toilet paper before walking back to my room. Two-Bit was still passed out and was half off, half on my bed, while Tim looked like he hadn't moved. "Okay, I'm back," I announced.

"Let's get this over with," He replied.

I chuckled, "You and Dallas, y'all both hate me playin' nurse." I squatted in front of him and wet some toilet paper with peroxide.

"It's not you playin' nurse that we hate. We'd probably enjoy it if it weren't for- Ow! Dammit, that hurt!" He swatted the toilet paper way in anger.

I finished his sentence, "That?" I had very gently dabbed one of his cuts and apparently caused him great pain. This made me smile a bit which caused a glare to etch itself onto his face. I brought the toilet paper back up to his face, but didn't touch it to him yet. "Try to be strong this time, okay?" I asked, causing his glare to worsen.

I finished sterilizing his face and turn away to get a band-aid.

"Hey, I don't need that!" he complained.

"One of those cuts is pretty deep, and unless you want your face to get infected and turn green…" I trailed off, leaving him to think about the consequences of having a green face. He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled with a huff, his way of giving me permission. I opened the band-aid and slowly stuck it to his face, smoothing it out to ensure that there weren't any air pockets. I had leaned forward a little and Two-Bit's sudden, loud snore caught me off guard and made me jump, causing me to fall farther forward. Tim caught me before I totally fell into him, but my hand hit his torso anyway, causing him to gasp. I didn't move my hand and continued to probe different parts of his chest and stomach to find the source of his pain. I found it in the center of his torso, just under his ribcage.

"Take your shirt off," I requested.

"What?" he asked, startled.

I looked up, staring into his eyes, "Take your shirt off," I requested with more force. Never taking his eyes off me, he let go of my arms and pulled his shirt over his head. We continued to stare for another moment, but I forced my eyes to travel down to where his injury was, and was relieved to discover that it was only a bruise. What caught me off guard was his abs. He definitely had abs. Nice ones too. They were nicely chiseled, and my initial reaction was to run my fingers slowly across them. I indulged. It was only a brief lapse of judgment, and sanity, but I was quickly brought back to my senses and stopped.

He gently took my hand and held it in place. "Don't stop," he said. I looked up and found his eyes boring into mine. They were brown. Not shit brown or anything like that, more like coffee with just a little cream that gave them a certain mystery and depth that was amplified by the slight amount of dark green around the pupils. There was pain in those eyes, that much was for sure, but there was also a sort of longing and desperation that only someone who could read Dallas could see. They were both good at hiding their emotions.

I had to look away. "No, you still have cuts, I need to fix you, I need to-"

He cut me off. "Do you know how long its been? A week. I haven't had any action in a week thanks to Dallas."

"Dallas?" I asked.

"Yea, ever since y'all broke it off he's been hittin' up every girl he could get his hands on," I had expected this, but it still hurt to hear, "I think he's been using them to get over the pain." Wow. I had no idea Tim was so perceptive. Was that part of the mystery in his eyes? The fact that he noticed things, could read into people, know their hidden intentions?

"Tim," I looked back into his eyes, "how do you feel about being used?" I had to ask. I didn't want any misunderstandings or hurt feelings.

He half-smiled "As long as I get something, I don't care how I get it." He was just as much of pig as the rest of them, but I had gotten used to it. He moved into me and our lips met. I didn't get the electric shock I did with Dally, or heat flood my body like with Two-Bit, but his lips were warm and soft and warmth slowly began to filter through me. His hands moved to my sides and he ran them up and down making the slow heat get warmer. I ran my hands across his chest and abs, being careful around his bruise. I pushed gently on his chest, and he got the message. Never breaking our kiss, he lay on the bed and I ran my hands through his hair. I scooted up a smidge and straddled his hips before running my tongue up his neck, sucking forcefully every so often. Since I was doing Tim a favor, I wanted it to be obvious that he had gotten something from someone. He rubbed the back of my thighs and then his tone changed. He grasped my hips and flipped up both so that he was on top. Things began to heat up when we heard a sudden noise.

"Lana?" it was a groggy Two-Bit. He was awake. Tim froze and we stared at each other for a split second, both of us terrified. We had completely forgotten he was there. Tim jumped off of me and grabbed his shirt while I rearranged myself. "Hey Tim, wuddaya doin' here?" he asked as he sleepily rubbed his eye, still a little bit drunk.

"Got in a fight with some Socs. Came here for some first aid," Tim was back to his cool façade. It was like nothing had happened. "Thanks Lana, I better go. I might be back though," he gave me a knowing look, "parents have been fightin' today and I don't wanna go home to that."

"Couch is always open," I replied, shooting down what he was hinting at. I was already regretting what had happened. I felt dirty. He walked out and it was only a few moments later that I heard the door slam closed. "Two-Bit, I'm gonna go take a shower." I got off the bed.

"Want me to join you?" he asked with a suggestive smile. Yup, still drunk.

I frowned, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Two-Bit, I'm not in the mood right now." I walked out of the room and into the bathroom. I needed to shower, to cleanse myself of Tim's essence. I stripped off my clothes and turned the hot water on.

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It was eight-ish and I was bored. Two-Bit, Steve, and Soda were keepin' me company because Darry was workin'. We had exhausted all forms of entertainment we could think off and had resolved to sitting in awkward silence watching the television, the news to be exact, when I suddenly though of the perfect idea.

"Hey guys, ya know where I haven't been in a while?" Two-Bit looked at me, waiting for an answer "The Ribbon." That caught Steve's attention.

"Yea, I haven't been there since…"he trailed off, but we all knew what he meant. None of us had really done anything except worry since Pony and Johnny ran off. Things had just started to seem normal again until Dally left, reminding of us the reason that Pony and Johnny weren't here, and the danger they were facing. "I'll just call Evie and she if she wants to come." Evie was Steve's favorite slut. I didn't really like her, but she seemed to care about Steve, so she was tuff enough, I guess. She had a reputation for sleeping around, but those rumors had all but stopped since she and Steve had gotten serious. I couldn't tolerate her for long periods of time, but I didn't object to her coming because I knew that she and Steve would sneak off to make out or whatever it is you do with an asshole like Steve.

"Hey, if Sandy's over there ask her if she wants to come.

I turned to Two-Bit with puppy-dog eyes, "Two-y?" he tried to ignore me, so I used the sweetest, most innocent voice I had in my arsenal, "Two-y-Bit, I'm asking you something,"

"Gosh Lana, just tell the poor guy what you want!" Soda said with a goofy smile on his face.

"Two-Bit do you have a car on hand?" I asked, back to my normal voice.

"Nope. Last one got 'returned'," He looked at me with my puppy-dog eyes all big and innocent and he sighed. "I guess I can get one." He got off the couch and walked out the door, off to find some car to "borrow."

"Evie said she and Sandy'll be over in a bit," Steve relayed to Soda and me. We sat around and waited. Evie and Sandy showed up first, with Two-Bit following just a few minutes later.

We all piled in. Two-Bit, me, Soda, and Sandy in his lap were all upfront, while Steve and Evie cuddled up in the back. I turned the radio up to drown out the disgusting sucking sounds coming from the backseat. We were all relieved when we finally arrived at the Ribbon.

The Ribbon was a two-mile stretch of hot dog and hamburger stands, drive-ins, and supermarkets over on the West side, close to where the Socs lived. At night the parking lots were filled with kids sitting on their cars and waving, watching, and yelling at other kids driving by. You could drive up and down the street looking at people, or park your car and look at people. The cops sometimes came along and told everyone to get back into their cars, but the cops were mostly guys who had been patrolling the Ribbon for a long time. The kids had worn them down by being pleasantly smart-aleck and smilingly uncooperative, so unless the kids were openly smoking grass or trying to kill each other, the cops were content to sit on the cars with them and yell rude things to chicks driving by. Everyone in town went there to see who was going with who ad who had what car. If you found someone you wanted to drive around with, you parked your car and left it while you goofed around with maybe a dozen different people in one night. Of course, you had to be careful. This was a Soc-Grease hangout, so the fights were frequent, but they weren't very serious. Because the cops hung out here all the time, only hoods and the worst Socs brought blades. You also had to be careful about leaving your car if you were greaser side. The Ribbon was socially segregated, Socs on one side, and greasers and hoods on the other. Most fights happened on the greaser side, but they were just between friends or to settle a debt, but if you really got lucky, they were cat-fights over a guy, all generally harmless as far as a fight went, but if someone, Soc or grease, crossed sides, that was when a real fight started. All the guys got in on these kinds of fights because Socs weren't allowed on the grease side and greasers weren't allowed on the Soc side. Middle classers were allowed to cross, but it was rare that they did.

For guys, it was a great place to go pick up chicks. If you followed a carload of them for a while, they might pull over and exchange phone numbers with you, this had been the cause of more than a few fights. Greaser guys hitting on some other guys' chicks, Socs yelling obscenities at greaser girls, but the worst was when drunk greasers went chasing after some Soc broads, whether they were spoken for or not it caused a brawl. It was a blast. Drugs and alcohol ran free on both sides and as long as you played by the rules, you had a good time.

I always hated going here with Dally. He was always chasing after girls, greaser and Soc, and he always got in, and sometimes caused, fights or brawls, and then I'd have to patch him up. It wound up being more trouble than it was worth to go with Dally.

But Dallas Winston wasn't here and I was determined to have a good time. As soon as we pulled up to a spot, Two-Bit was gone in search of beer. He was back almost instantly and handed Steve and me one. Soda, who was normally jumping with excitement, was sitting beside Sandy and whispering things in her ear. I didn't want to know what he was saying because she was blushing and giggling and swatting playfully at him. Her hair was natural blond and her laugh was soft, like her china-blue eyes. She didn't have a real good home or anything and was our kind-greaser- but she was a real nice girl. Some called her a goody-goody, but her skirts were too short and she wore too much make-up to really have that title.

I bummed a cigarette off Steve and sat on the hood of the 1950 Buick Roadmaster Two-Bit had found. Steve and Evie had retired to the backseat of the car but with all the noise around, you couldn't hear them. Two-Bit joined me on the hood ad both of us smoked and drank our beers. We watched two greaser guys get in a short fight that broke itself up before the cops even noticed.

Suddenly, Two-Bit decided to talk to me, "So what was goin' on with Tim this mornin'?" I had been dreading this question.

"Nothing, he got in a fight and came to my house for help. I helped. End of story."

"You know," he shifted so that he was on his side, his swirling grey eyes boring into mine, staring into my soul it seemed, "I'm not an idiot, and, I know you well enough to know that somethin' went on between the two of you."

I sighed, he wouldn't give this up, "He came over because he got in a fight with some Socs and he needed a little first aid. You had passed out on me, " he snickered at this, "and he rolled you off me. While administering the first aid, we both got a little excited."

He turned away at that last part. "So do you just jump on anything you can get your hands on?" he asked darkly.

I whirled to glare at him, "Keith Mathews," I spat at him with venom in my voice. He slowly lifted his head, like a little kid who knew he was in trouble, "You out to be ashamed. You know me better then that."

"I-" he began but was cut off by rising noise from the car. It was Sandy and Soda, which was surprising because it was normally Steve and Evie who caused a ruckus. Suddenly, the car door opened and a crying Sandy stumbled out.

"I'm sorry Soda, I shouldn't have mentioned it here," she said, her voice shaking because of tears.

"Sandy, wait, don't leave, it just-caught me by surprise," Soda said, grasping her hand and trying to pull her back to him.

"Soda, I'm sorry, I just-I have to leave. I'm sorry, I'll come by later, okay?" More tears were forming in her eyes, but Soda nodded and let go. "Evie, Evie! Dammit, Evie, come on!" Sandy rapped on the window and Evie stumbled out, her make up shifted and lips swollen.

"Shit Sandy, what the hell?" Evie looked at her face and her eyes widened. "Boys, Lana, it's been a pleasure, but I think Sandy and I will be retiring for the evening. Come on Sandy, let's go." They turned around and Steve called out to them.

"Come on girls, at least let us walk ya home. Streets ain't safe this time of night, 'specially not now."

"I'll go with 'em," Two-Bit slurred as he hopped off the hood of the car.

"What was wrong with Sandy?" I asked Soda, who was now completely out of the car.

He whirled around and punched side of the car, hard. "She's pregnant, dammit," he yelled as he slumped to the ground, holding his head in his hands.

"Well is it yours?" Steve, the asshole, asked.

"She doesn't even know," Soda replied slowly.


	19. Florida?

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****The Outsiders****, never have, never will. Most of the stuff in this chapter came straight out of the novel (and that's how its going to be for a few more chapters). I remembered that I had estimated how many chapters were left, and I now realize how inaccurate that was. I had thought that this would be close to 20 chapters, but it's going to be more like 30 and probably closer to 35, and I'm okay with that. I want to make sure I get everything said that I want said.**

**Also, I'm in the very beginning of formulating a sequel. Well, it's kind of a sequel. It's more like the ****That Was Then, This is Now**** to this story, meaning that it's in the same universe and some of the same characters are in it, but its focus is a new set of characters. I think it'll be pretty good and a little bit different (kind of like how this one is). I'm actually pretty excited about it, because it'll be entirely my own and won't rely on a book as heavily as this one does (but I ****will**** refer to events and possibly even characters from ****That Was Then, This is Now**** when necessary). Anyway, on with the story!**

"Yeah… Yeah I'll be over in a bit... I love you too….Alright….Bye, and Sandy, don't worry, we'll get through this…Bye," Soda had been on the phone with Sandy for the past five minutes. "Darry, I'm goin' over to Sandy's. We're gonna break the news to her parents." Soda was unusually calm and serious.

"Alright Soda, don't be too long, it's gettin' late," Darry wasn't angry anymore, he was too disappointed to be angry. He couldn't believe that his little brother could get someone pregnant, but most of all, he couldn't believe that Sandy had been sleeping around on Soda. None of us could.

"Yea, alright," He was walking towards the door while putting his coat on when he suddenly stopped, "I'm gonna ask Sandy to marry me." He turned to look at Darry's reaction.

"Whatever you think you have to do, Soda," Darry said with a sigh.

Soda smiled sadly before he walked out.

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The door banged open to reveal a crying Soda. He closed the door and leaned against it. "She's moving to Florida," he slid down the door until he reached the floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees and sobbed.

I slowly walked over to his side and sat down beside him. He turned his head to look at me. "Florida. I'll never see her again."

"Soda…" I didn't know what to say. What could I possibly say that would comfort him? Tears were welling in my eyes now. I couldn't bear to see him this broken up about something. I put my hand on his back and he leaned into my side.

"What did her parents say?" Darry asked.

"I told them I wanted to marry her and… and they started yelling. Sayin' how they wouldn't let their only daughter marry some sixteen year-old drop-out that worked at a gas station."

"Oh, Soda…" I chocked out.

"They said that she was gonna live with her grandparents in Florida and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Sandy started yellin' too, sayin' that she wasn't gonna go live with two old folks that barely knew her. She said she didn't wanna be pushed away and hidden. I told her…I told her that it was best that she did, 'cause that way, maybe the baby could get raised right and have a proper home away from all this…this shit goin' on 'round here. That way it wouldn't get jumped or called greaser, an' maybe it could finish school and have a better life than I could ever offer it, offer Sandy." He looked up at Darry, "It's for the best, right?"

"That's a decision I can't make little buddy, but yea, I think it's for the best."

Soda nodded, "I think I'm gonna go to bed now." Soda got up and walked to his and Pony's bedroom, but stopped when the phone rang, we all did. After the third ring, Darry got up to answer it. He talked on it briefly, his eyes wide the whole time. When he finally hung up, I was the first to speak.

"Well, who was it? What did they want?"

"That was the hospital. They're in the hospital. The man said that they saved some kids from a fire," Darry explained.

"Well let's go get him 'em!" I yelled.

"You up for it Soda?" Darry asked.

"Hell yea I am!" Soda said. He was excited, but not as much as he normally would have been.

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When we got to the hospital, they asked us a bunch of questions about who we were and why we were there, but once they realized we were Pony's family, they let us right in. They lead us to this separate waiting room to wait for Pony. We were all anxious, especially Darry. I expect it was because he thought this whole thing was his fault, which it kind of was, but he shouldn't beat himself up about it…too much. I had just told him this, when Pony ran through the already opened door.

Soda leaped up and had Pony in a bear hug and was swinging him around. Finally he set him down and looked at him. He pushed his hair back. "Oh, Ponyboy, your hair... your tuff, tuff hair..." His hair was even lighter than Sodapop's. It made him look younger, and more scared, too. I got up too.

"Shut up Soda! It's hair," I grinned, even though tears were streaming down my face. "We missed you Pone," I said before I squeezed the dickens out of him. Then Pony and I looked at Darry. He was leaning in the doorway, wearing his olive jeans and black T-shirt. His fists were jammed in his pockets and his eyes were pleading. We simply looked at him.

He swallowed and said in a husky voice, "Ponyboy..."

Suddenly I realized, horrified, that Darry was crying. He didn't make a sound, but tears were running down his cheeks. I hadn't seen him cry in years, not even when Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had been killed. I remembered the funeral. Pony had sobbed in spite of himself; Soda and I had broken down and bawled like babies; but Darry had only stood there, his fists in his pockets and that look on his face, the same helpless, pleading look that he was wearing now.

Darry looked down and turned away silently. Suddenly, Ponyboy broke out of his daze. "Darry!" He screamed, and the next thing I knew Pony had him around the waist and was squeezing the daylights out of him. "Darry," He said, "I'm sorry..." Darry was stroking Pony's hair and I could hear the sobs racking him as he fought to keep back the tears.

"Oh, Pony, I thought we'd lost you... like we did Mom and Dad..." That was his silent fear then- of losing another person he loved. I remembered how close he and Mr. Curtis had been, and I wondered how I could ever have thought him hard and unfeeling. I knew everything was going to be okay now. Pony had taken the long way around, but was finally home. To stay.

Now there were four of us sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear how Dally and Johnny were. Then the reporters and the police came. They asked too many questions too fast, and got Pony mixed up. The reporters fired one question right after another at him and got him so confused I didn't know what was coming off. Darry finally told them Pony wasn't in any shape to be yelled at so much and they slowed down a little. Darry's kinda big. Sodapop kept them in stitches, though. He'd grab one guy's press hat and another's camera and walk around interviewing the nurses and mimicking TV reporters. He tried to lift a policeman's gun and grinned so crazily when he was caught that the policeman had to grin too. Soda can make anyone grin, but I could see that he was just trying to hide how scared he was about Sandy. He was trying to forget about that, and I wasn't about to bring that up. Pony managed to get hold of some hair grease and comb his hair back so that it looked a little better before they got any pictures. He'd die if he got his picture in the paper with his hair looking so lousy. Darry, Sodapop and I were in the pictures too. Soda was really getting a kick out of all this. He would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been so serious (and if Sandy wasn't moving to Florida without him), but he couldn't resist anything that caused that much excitement. I swear, sometimes he reminds me of a colt. A long-legged palomino colt that has to get his nose into everything. The reporters stared at him admiringly; He looks like a movie star, and he kind of radiates. Finally, even Sodapop got tired of the reporter- he gets bored with the same old thing after a time- and stretching out on the long bench, he put his head in Darry's lap and went to sleep. I sat next to Darry, but I couldn't sleep.

Finally, the reporters started to leave, along with the police. One of them turned and asked, "What would you do right now if you could do anything you wanted?"

Pony looked at him tiredly. "Take a bath." They thought that was pretty funny, but I could tell it was the truth. He looked pretty lousy.

The hospital got real quiet after they left. The only noise was the nurse's soft footsteps and Soda's light breathing. Darry looked down at him and grinned half-halfheartedly. "He didn't get much sleep recently," he said softly. "He hardly slept at all."

"Hhhmmmm," Soda said drowsily, "you didn't either."

"None of us did," I put in. The nurses wouldn't tell us anything about Johnny and Dally, so Darry got hold of the doctor. The doctor told us that he would talk only to the family, but Darry finally got it through the guy's head that we were about as much family as Dally and Johnny had.

Dally would be okay after two or three days in the hospital, he said. One arm was badly burned and would be scarred for the rest of his life, but he would have full use of it in a couple of weeks. Dally'll be okay, I thought. Dallas is always okay. He could take anything. It was Johnny I was worried about.

He was in critical condition. His back had been broken when a piece of timber fell on him. He was in severe shock and suffering from third-degree burns. They were doing everything they could to ease the pain, although since his back was broken, he couldn't even feel the burns below his waist. He kept calling for Dallas and Ponyboy. If he lived... If? Please, no, I thought. Please not "if." The blood was draining from Pony's face and Darry put an arm across his shoulder and squeezed hard... Even if he lived he'd be crippled for the rest of his life. "You wanted it straight and you got it straight," the doctor said. "Now go home and get some rest." Pony and I were trembling. A pain was growing in my throat and I wanted to cry, but greasers don't cry in front of strangers. Some of us never cry at all. Like Dally and Two-Bit and Tim Shepard- they forgot how at an early age. Johnny crippled for life? I'm dreaming, I thought in panic, I'm dreaming. I'll wake up and everything will be like it used to be. But I didn't believe myself. Even if Johnny did live he'd be crippled and never play football or help us out in a rumble again. He'd have to stay in that house he hated, where he wasn't wanted, and things could never be like they used to be. I didn't trust myself to speak. If I said one word, the hard knot in my throat would swell and I'd be crying in spite of myself.

I took a deep breath and kept my mouth shut. Soda was awake by then, and although he looked stony-faced, as if he hadn't heard a word the doctor had said, his eyes were bleak and stunned. This just wasn't a good night for him. I could tell that he was trying hard not to show too much emotion, but we would have understood. He learned that his girlfriend was pregnant, possibly from another man, moving to Florida, and then that a member of our gang, Johnny to boot, was going to be crippled for life at best.

Darry was rubbing the back of Pony's head softly. "We'd better go home. We can't do anything here."

In our Ford Pony was suddenly overcome by sleepiness. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

Soda was shaking him gently. "Hey, Ponyboy, wake up. You still got to get to the house."

"Hmmmmm," He said sleepily, and lay down in the seat.

"Oh, come on, Ponyboy," I pleaded, shaking me a little harder, "we're sleepy, too."

Darry was tired of fooling around, because he picked him up and carried him in. "He's getting mighty big to be carried," Soda said. I wanted to tell him to shut up and let him sleep but I only yawned.

"He's sure lost a lot of weight," Darry said.

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I was the first one up the next morning, which would normally have been odd, but everyone was too tired to get up early, well early for me at least. Pony was up shortly after me. I was toasting some bread when I heard the shower start up. I went and sat down on the couch, reveling in the relative silence of the house, knowing that it couldn't last forever.

He hunted through the icebox and found some eggs. We all like our eggs done differently. Pony like them hard, Darry likes them in a bacon-and-tomato sandwich, I like mine scrambled with lots of pepper, and Sodapop eats his with grape jelly. All of us like chocolate cake for breakfast. Mrs. Curtis had never allowed it with ham and eggs, but Darry let Soda and me talk him into it. We really didn't have to twist his arm; Darry loves chocolate cake as much as we do. Sodapop always makes sure there's some in the icebox every night and if there isn't he cooks one up real quick. I like Darry's cakes better; Sodapop always puts too much sugar in the icing. I don't see how he stands jelly and eggs and chocolate cake all at once, but he seems to like it. Darry drinks black coffee, and Sodapop, Pony, and I drink chocolate milk. We could have coffee if we wanted it, but we like chocolate milk. All of us are crazy about chocolate stuff. Soda says if they ever make a chocolate cigarette Pony will have it made.

"Anybody home?" a familiar voice called through the front screen, and Two-Bit and Steve came in. We always just stick our heads into each other's houses and holler "Hey" and walk in. Our front door is always unlocked in case one of the boys is hacked off at his parents and needs a place to lay over and cool off. We never could tell who we'd find stretched out on the sofa in the morning. It was usually Steve, whose father told him about once a week to get out and never come back. It kind of bugs Steve, even if his old man does give him five or six bucks the next day to make up for it. Or it might be Dally, but for the past while he's just been coming into my room to stay the night. Once we even found Tim Shepard reading the morning paper in the armchair. He merely looked up, said "Hi," and strolled out without staying for breakfast. Two-Bit's mother warned us about burglars, but Darry, flexing his muscles so that they bulged like over sized baseballs, drawled that he wasn't afraid of any burglars, and that we didn't really have anything worth taking. He'd risk a robbery, he said, if it meant keeping one of the boys from blowing up and robbing a gas station or something. So the door was never locked.

"In here!" Pony yelled, even though Darry and Sodapop were still asleep.

"Don't slam the door," I added. They slammed the door, of course, and Two-Bit came running into the kitchen. He caught Pony by the upper arms and swung him around, ignoring the fact that he had two uncooked eggs in his hand.

"Hey, Ponyboy," Two-Bit cried gleefully, "long time no see." You would have thought it had been five years instead of five days since he had seen Pony last. He spun Pony into Steve, who gave him a playful slap on his bruised back and shoved him across the room. One of the eggs went flying. It landed on the clock and Pony tightened his grip on the other one, so that it crushed and ran all over his hand.

"Now look what you did," Pony griped. "There went our breakfast. Can't you two wait till I set the eggs down before you go shovin' me all over the country?" Pony had the right to be a little mad, he probably hadn't had a real meal in a long while.

Two-Bit was walking in a slow circle around Pony, and Pony sighed because he knew what was coming. "Man, dig baldy here!" He was staring at Pony's head as he circled him. "I wouldn't have believed it. I thought all the wild Indians in Oklahoma had been tamed. What little squaw's got that tuff-lookin' mop of yours, Ponyboy?"

"Aw, lay off," I said. Pony didn't look too good, kind of like he was coming down with something.

Two-Bit winked at Steve, and Steve said, "Why, he had to get a haircut to get his picture in the paper. They'd never believe a greasy lookin' mug could be a hero. How do you like bein' a hero, big shot?"

"How do I like what?" Pony asked.

"Being a hero. You know"- he shoved the morning paper at him impatiently- "like a big shot, even."

On the front page of the second section was the headline: JUVENILE DELINQUENTS TURN HEROES. "What I like is the 'turn' bit," Two-Bit said, cleaning the egg up off the floor. "Y'all were heroes from the beginning. You just didn't 'turn' all of a sudden."

I had looked over the paper while I was waiting on my toast. That whole page was covered with stories about us- the fight, the murder, the church burning, the Socs being drunk, everything. Pony's picture was there, with Darry, Sodapop, and me. The article told how Johnny and Pony had risked their lives saving those little kids, and there was a comment from one of the parents, who said that they would all have burned to death if it hadn't been for them. It told the whole story of their fight with the Socs- only they didn't say "Socs," because most grownups don't know about the battles that go on between us. They had interviewed Cherry Valance, and she said Bob had been drunk and that the boys had been looking for a fight when they took her home. Bob had told her he'd fix them for picking up his girl. His buddy Randy Adderson, who had helped lump them, also said it was their fault and that they had only fought back in self-defense. But they were charging Johnny with manslaughter. When I read it, I had discovered that Pony was supposed to appear at juvenile court for running away, and Johnny was too, if he recovered. (Not if, I thought again. Why do they keep saying if?) For once, there weren't any charges against Dally, and I knew he'd be mad because the paper made him out a hero for saving Johnny and didn't say much about his police record, which he was kind of proud of. He'd kill those reporters if he got hold of them. There was another column about just Darry, Soda, Pony and me: how Darry worked on two jobs at once and made good at both of them, and about his outstanding record at school; it mentioned Sodapop dropping out of school so we could stay together, and that Pony and I made the honor roll at school all the time and how he might be a future track star. Then it said we shouldn't be separated after we had worked so hard to stay together.

"You mean... that they're thinking about putting me, Soda, and Lana in a home or something?"

Steve was carefully combing back his hair in complicated swirls. "Somethin' like that."

We couldn't get hauled off now. Not after Pony and Darry had finally got through to each other, and now that the big rumble was coming up and we would settle this Soc-greaser thing once and for all. Not now, when Johnny needed us and Dally was still in the hospital and wouldn't be out for the rumble. "No," Pony said out loud, and Two-Bit, who was scraping the egg off the clock, turned to stare at him.

"No what?"

"No, they ain't goin' to put us in a home."

"Don't worry about it," Steve said, cocksure that he and Sodapop could handle anything that came up. "They don't do things like that to heroes. Where're Soda and Superman?" That was as far as he got, because Darry, shaved and dressed, came in behind Steve and lifted him up off the floor, then dropped him. We all call Darry "Superman" or "Muscles" at one time or another; but one time Steve made the mistake of referring to him as "all brawn and no brain," and Darry almost shattered Steve's jaw. Steve didn't call him that again, but Darry never forgave him; Darry has never really gotten over not going to college. That was the only time I've ever seen Soda mad at Steve, although Soda attaches no importance to education. School bored him. No action. Soda came running in, and I screamed and covered my eyes because he was stark naked. It wasn't the first time I had seen Soda in the full (I kinda think he likes strutting around showing off his "assets"), but it was still horrifying for me to see that. I didn't take pleasure in seeing it, even though it was pretty nice, I must say, but he was my like my brother and it was just wrong.

"Where's that blue shirt I washed yesterday?" He took a swig of chocolate milk out of the container and paying no attention to my discomfort.

"Hate to tell you, buddy," Steve said, still flat on the floor, "but you have to wear clothes to work. There's a law or something."

"Oh, yeah," Soda said. "Where're those wheat jeans, too?"

"I ironed. They're in my closet," Darry said. "Hurry up, you're gonna be late."

Soda ran back, muttering, "I'm hurryin', I'm hurryin'."

Steve followed him and in a second there was the general racket of a pillow fight. I absentmindedly watched Darry as he searched the icebox for chocolate cake.

"Darry," Pony said suddenly, "did you know about the juvenile court?"

"Yeah, the cops told me last night," he said evenly.

I knew then that he realized we might get separated.

"I had one of those dreams last night. The one I can't ever remember." Darry and I spun around to face Pony, genuine fear on our faces. "What?" we asked simultaneously.

He had had a nightmare the night of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis's funeral. He had had nightmares and wild dreams every once in a while when he was little, but nothing like this one. He woke up screaming bloody murder, and he never could remember what it was that had scared him. It scared Sodapop, Darry, and me almost as bad as it scared Pony; for night after night, for weeks on end, he would dream this dream and wake up in a cold sweat or screaming. And he never could remember exactly what happened in it. Soda began sleeping with him, and it stopped recurring so often, but it happened often enough for Darry to take him to a doctor. The doctor said Pony had too much imagination. He had a simple cure, too: Study harder, read more, draw more, and play football more. After a hard game of football and four or five hours of reading, Pony was too exhausted, mentally and physically, to dream anything. But Darry never got over it, and every once in a while he would ask Pony if he ever dreamed any more.

"Was it very bad?" Two-Bit questioned. He knew the whole story, and having never dreamed about anything but blondes, he was interested.

"No."

Darry started to say something, but before he could begin, Sodapop and Steve came in.

"You know what?" Sodapop said to no one in particular. "When we stomp the Socies good, me and Stevie here are gonna throw a big party and everybody can get stoned. Then we'll go chase the Socs clear to Mexico."

"Where you gonna get the dough, little man?" Darry had found the cake and was handing out pieces.

"I'll think of somethin'," Sodapop assured him between bites.

"You going to take Sandy to the party?" Pony asked. Instant silence. Pony looked around. "What's the deal?" Sodapop was staring at his feet, ears reddening, and I could tell tears were welling in his eyes. It was too soon, the wound was too fresh.

"No. She went to live with her grandmother in Florida."

"How come?" Pony asked.

"Look," Steve said, surprisingly angry, "does he have to draw you a picture?"

"Steve," I warned.

"It was either that or get married, and her parents almost hit the roof at the idea of her marryin' a sixteen-year-old kid."

"Seventeen," Soda said softly. "I'll be seventeen in a couple of weeks."

"Oh," Pony said, embarrassed.

There was a heavy silence. Then Darry said, "We'd better get on to work, Pepsi-Cola." Darry rarely called Soda by Dad's pet nickname for him, but he did so then because he knew how miserable Sodapop was about Sandy.

"I hate to leave you here by yourself, Ponyboy," Darry said slowly. "Maybe I ought to take the day off."

"I've stayed by my lonesome before. You can't afford a day off."

"Yeah, but you just got back and I really ought to stay..."

"I'll baby-sit him," Two-Bit said, ducking as Pony took a swing at him. "I haven't got anything better to do." Darry looked at little frightened at the tought, but I told him that I'd look after the two of them.

"Why don't you get a job?" Steve said. "Ever consider working for a living?"

"Work?" Two-Bit was aghast. "And ruin my rep? I wouldn't be baby-sittin' the kid here if I knew of some good day-nursery open on Saturdays." Pony pulled his chair over backward and jumped on him, but Two-Bit had him down in a second.

"Holler uncle."

"Nope," Pony said, struggling, but he didn't have his usual strength. Darry was pulling on his jacket.

"You three do up the dishes. You can go to the movies if you want to before you go see Dally and Johnny." He paused for a second, watching Two-Bit squash the heck out of Pony. "Two-Bit, lay off. He ain't lookin' so good. Ponyboy, you take a couple of aspirins and go easy. You smoke more than a pack today and I'll skin you. Understood?"

Yeah," Pony said, getting to his feet. "You carry more than one bundle of roofing at a time today and me and Soda'll skin you. Understood?" Darry grinned one of his rare grins.

"Yeah. See y'all this afternoon."

"Bye," I said. I heard our Ford's vvrrrooooom and thought: Soda's driving. And they left.

"...anyway, I was walking around downtown and started to take this short cut through an alley"- Two-Bit was telling Pony about one of his many exploits while we did the dishes. I mean, while Pony and I did the dishes. Two-Bit was sitting on the cabinet, sharpening that black handled switchblade he was so proud of- "... and I ran into three guys. I says 'Howdy' and they just look at each other. Then one says 'We would jump you but since you're as slick as us we figger you don't have nothin' worth takin'.' I says 'Buddy, that's the truth' and went right on. Moral: What's the safest thing to be when one is met by a gang of social outcasts in an alley?"

"A judo expert?" I suggested.

"No, another social outcast!" Two-Bit yelped, and nearly fell off the cabinet from laughing so hard. I had to grin, too. He saw things straight and made them into something funny.

"We're gonna clean up the house," I said. "The reporters or police or somebody might come by, and anyway, it's time for those guys from the state to come by and check up on us."

"This house ain't messy. You oughtta see my house."

"I have. And if you had the sense of a billy goat you'd try to help around your place instead of bumming around." Pony said.

"Shoot, kid, if I ever did that my mom would die of shock." I liked Two-Bit's mother. She had the same good humor and easygoing ways that he did. She wasn't lazy like him, but she'd let him get away with murder. I don't know, though- it's just about impossible to get mad at him. When we had finished, I pulled on Dally's brown leather jacket- Pony had given it to me. He figured that I more of a claim to it than he did- and we started for Tenth Street. "I would drive us," Two-Bit said as we walked up the street trying to thumb a ride, "but the brakes are out on my car. Almost killed me and Kathy the other night" He flipped the collar of his black leather jacket up to serve as a windbreak while he lit a cigarette. "You oughtta see Kathy's brother. Now there's a hood. He's so greasy he glides when he walks. He goes to the barber for an oil change, not a haircut"

We stopped at the Tasty Freeze to buy Cokes and rest up, and the blue Mustang that had been trailing us for eight blocks pulled in. Pony wanted to run, but Two-Bit shook his head ever so slightly and tossed him a cigarette as I pulled one out of my pocket. As we all lit up, the Socs hopped out of the Mustang. I hated them. It was their fault Bob was dead; their fault Johnny was dying; their fault my brothers and I might get put in a home. I hated them as bitterly and as contemptuously as Dally Winston hated. Two-Bit put an elbow on my shoulder and leaned against me, dragging on his cigarette. "You know the rules. No jazz before the rumble," he said to the Socs.

"We know," Randy said. He looked at Pony. "Come here. I want to talk to you." We both glanced at Two-Bit. He shrugged. Pony followed Randy over to his car, out of earshot of us.

"What do you think he wants?" I asked Two-Bit.

"Dunno," he answered

"But they ain't gonna do nothin' to him. No jazz 'fore the rumble, right?"

"Yea. Hey, watcha say we have a little with the Socies," he had that grin on his face again, the grin that no one could resist. I couldn't resist it, so I just grinned back.

"Hey check out their pants, Lana!" This caused me and a few other guys hanging around the Tasty Freeze to laugh. "So," he continued, "you guys waitin' for a floodin'?" More laughter.

"Ha ha, you're so funny," this one Soc guys said to Two-Bit.

"Hey you," I said to the Soc. He looked at me, "Yea you," I continued, "Yea, I heard they stamp your face in them Gorilla Cookies!" this caused even a couple of the Socs to laugh, but it only caused the guy to get more riled up.

"Hey, you better watch your mouth girlie."

"Oh yea? Well what cha' gonna do about it?"

His fist clenched and he raised his arm as if he was going to hit me, but his friends held him back.

"Guy doesn't know how to laugh at himself," Two-Bit whispered in my ear.

"I can tell," I said quietly.

"Hey, you're one of them Curtis's are cha'?" One of the Socs asked.

"What's it to ya?" I asked.

"Well I hear that the Curtis girl's goin' with Dallas Winston, and I got a score to settle with him," what a surprise, I thought sarcastically. "I'll be lookin' for him at the rumble, pass along the message will ya?"

"I ain't no damn mail man!" I yelled, insulted. I sure as hell wasn't going to pass along some asshole's message, especially a Soc's.

"Dally's in the hospital. He's still recoverin' from his heroic act of kindness," Two-Bit explained.

"Well you pass on the message just the same. If I don't see him at the rumble, I'll see him some other time. Just let him know that I'm lookin' for him."

"Like hell I will," I mumbled to myself. I l glanced over at the car Pony was in and saw him getting out. I elbowed Two-Bit and he saw the same thing.

"Well, it's been fun boys. See y'all tonight."

Pony was walking towards us and the guy in the car honked.

"What'd he want?" I asked.

"What'd Mr. Super-Soc have to say?" Two-Bit asked, still grinning.

"He ain't a Soc," Pony said, "he's just a guy. He just wanted to talk."

"You want to see a movie before we go see Johnny and Dallas?" I asked as I put my arm around his shoulders.

"Nope," he said, lighting up another weed.

We continued walking to the hospital. Two-Bit cracked a few jokes here and there, but overall it was silent. Whatever that Soc had said to Pony had really got him thinking. I wondered what they had been talking about. Pony had said that the guy wasn't a Soc, but he sure looked like one to me. They must have talked about some pretty serious stuff for him to change Pony's opinion just like that.

**Oh my gosh, that was long (over 6,000 words). I had to stop here because if I didn't, I would have had to get into the hospital visit, and I think that's just too much for one chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Read and Review!**


	20. The Nurse Made My Stomach Sick

**I don't own ****The Outsiders****.**

The nurses wouldn't let us see Johnny. He was in critical condition. No visitors. But Two-Bit wouldn't take no for an answer. That was his buddy in there and he aimed to see him. We all begged and pleaded, but we were getting nowhere until the doctor found out what was going on. "Let them go in," he said to the nurse. "He's been asking for them. It can't hurt now." Two-Bit didn't notice the expression in his voice. It's true, I thought numbly, he is dying.

We went in, practically on tiptoe, because the quietness of the hospital scared us. Johnny was lying still, with his eyes closed, but when Two-Bit said, "Hey, Johnnykid," he opened them and looked at us, trying to grin."Hey, y'all."

The nurse, who was pulling the shades open, smiled and said, "So he can talk after all."

I looked around. "They treatin' you okay, kid?"

"Don't..." -Johnny gasped- "don't let me put enough grease on my hair."

"Don't talk," I said, pulling up a chair

"Just listen," Two-Bit continued for me. "We'll bring you some hair grease next time. We're havin' the big rumble tonight" Johnny's huge black eyes widened a little, but he didn't say anything. "It's too bad you and Dally can't be in it. It's the first big rumble we've had- not countin' the time we whipped Shepard's outfit"

"He came by," Johnny said.

"Tim Shepard?" I asked.

Johnny nodded. "Came to see Dally." Tim and Dallas had always been buddies.

"Did you know you got your name in the paper for being a hero?"

Johnny almost grinned as he nodded. "Tuff enough," he managed.

I could see that even a few words were tiring him out; he was as pale as the pillow and looked awful. Two-Bit pretended not to notice. "You want anything besides hair grease, kid?" Johnny barely nodded.

"The book"- he looked at Pony- "can you get another one?" Two-Bit an I looked at Pony too. What was Johnny talking about?

"He wants a copy of Gone with the Wind so I can read it to him," Pony explained. "You want to run down to the drugstore and get one?"

"Okay," I said.

"Don't y'all run off." Two-Bit added cheerfully.

We walked out of the room together. Two-Bit turned in the direction of the exit, but I paused. "I think I'm gonna so see Dally."

Two-Bit nodded and continued to the exit. I walked to the elevator to get to the next floor where Dallas was.

Dally was arguing with one of the nurses when I came in.

"What's happened to your gown?" the nurse asked.

"I threw it away," Dally replied.

The nurse just rolled her eyes, "I can't wait 'til you're outta here."

"Get out, just get out! You're making me sick in my stomach." I laughed quietly as the nurse brushed past me.

Dallas turned his attention to me and smirked.

"Well, are you gonna invite me over?"

"Just couldn't stay away could ya?" he asked as he waved me over.

I smiled and walked over to his bed. "So I'm guessing you're doin' alright up here?"

"Nah man, these- hospital people won't let me smoke, and I want out!"

"Well by the looks of you, I think you'll be out soon."

"Not soon enough." He grabbed me around my waist and dragged me into his bed. He scooted over to the other side while I arranged myself. I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were more guarded than usual. I moved in to kiss him and his lips were all but unresponsive. I looked quizzically at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Shepard came by to see me a while ago."

"That's what Johnny said. What'd he want?"

"Said he saw my picture in the paper and couldn't believe it didn't have 'Wanted Dead or Alive' under it. He mostly came to rub it in about the rumble. Man, I hate not bein' in that."

I kept looking at him. "Dal, that's not what's really bothering you. Come on, tell me!"

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes! I'm supposed to know what's bothering you, I'm your girlfriend."

"Are you?"

"What? Dal, what you talking about?"

"Tim didn't just come to talk to me about the rumble."

"Well I figured that much out for myself."

"Hey, you wanna know what's up or not?"

"Yeah, keep goin'."

"Well he comes up here to talk to me and says that he's feelin' a little guilty, and when I ask him what for he says that he spent a little time with you in your room yesterday. Now my only question is for you. I wanna know what really happened 'cause he wasn't givin' up any details, sayin' that he isn't one to kiss an' tell which I know is some serious bullshit. So, Lana, tell me, what happened between you and Shepard?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "It's not what you think it is. I mean, it could have been, but it wasn't. I-it was…"

"Well, what was it?"

I sighed again. "Tim had gotten in a fight with a Brumley boy and came over to our house to get someone to patch him up. Well I did and then…one thing led to another…and…but it didn't go far because Two-Bit woke up and…"

"Two-Bit was there too?" he asked.

"Yeah, he had fallen asleep after he woke me up. He was drunk. Nothing happened Dal."

"Yea, just like nothing happened with Shepard," he turned away from me to lay on his back.

"I didn't say that, I just said that what happened wasn't what you thought it was." He just glared at the ceiling and shook his head. "Dal, I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did! And I felt awful after it had, I didn't like it. It…it felt wrong!"

"Yea, well cheating on your man usually does," he said with venom in his voice.

"Oh, shut your mouth Winston, you haven't been totally faithful yourself."

"That's different," he turned his gaze to me. "Do you know how it looks when people hear that my girl's runnin' around on me? I thought you'd be better than Sylvia…" he shifted his gaze back to the ceiling at that last statement.

"You're unbelievable," I got up from the bed and walked to the door. I had my hand on the doorknob, but I paused. "I love you, ya' know," I said quietly.

He 'hmm'ed, questioningly as a response.

I balled my fist and slammed it against the door. I whirled around to him, angry tears pooling in my eyes. "Dammit, I love you!" his face was emotionless. I couldn't read it. I turned quickly, my shoulder resting against the door. "I love you, Dallas," I repeated before I opened the door, exiting his room. I leaned against the door and realized that tears were falling. He thought I was like Sylvia. I loved him, and he thought I was like Sylvia.

I couldn't believe him! How dare he compare me to that slut! I was nothing like her, wasn't I? His comparison had got me thinking. The only reason that I slept around a little, was because he had first, Sylvia just did it because she didn't have Dallas around, right? And then it hit me; maybe I was just like Sylvia. Maybe it started out as retaliation for Dallas's actions, but then it just go to be too much for her. I had always thought of Sylvia as a slutty, fake blond bimbo that didn't have enough self-respect to care about what she did, but she was probably just a lonely, insecure girl that didn't know another way to get attention. This revelation caused more tears to fall.

I shuffled down the hall to the elevator. No one was in it, so I quickly pressed the button for Johnny's floor.

When my floor was reached, I got out and walked towards Johnny's room to see that Two-Bit and Pony were coming out. They looked grim, and their expressions only worsened as I approached.

I had just reached them when Two-Bit stopped me. "Lana, what's wrong?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," I said quickly, not meeting his gaze. I glanced at Ponyboy, and I knew that he saw right through the mask I put up. I could also tell that it scared both of us.

Two-Bit released me and I rushed to the bathroom. I made it all the way to the counter before I broke down. I was furious, and hurt, and more emotional I probably should have been, but I couldn't help it. I was furious because Dallas thought of me as no better than Sylvia. I was furious because I loved him. I was hurt because he didn't say it back. I hadn't really expected him to, but it still crushed me that he didn't. I hated feeling out of control. I hated that I couldn't change the way things were.

I had to stop this. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself. I just needed to suck it up and deal with it like everyone else did. That was the answer, wasn't it? I just needed to become cold and hard like Dallas and Tim. I just needed to stop caring, that way it wouldn't hurt as much when things when wrong.

I realized that I had stopped crying. I had managed to pull myself together. I decided that I had spent long enough in the bathroom and decided to just wait for Pony and Two-Bit in the waiting room. That was what it's for anyway…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We decided to catch a bus home. Two-Bit left Pony and me sitting on the bench at the bus stop while he went to a gas station to buy some cigarettes. Pony was nearly asleep when I put my hand on his forehead. He almost jumped out of his skin. I looked down at him worriedly. "You feel okay? You're awful hot."

"I'm all right," he said, and I looked at Two-Bit, who had finally returned from the store, and Pony knew I didn't believe him. He got a little panicky. "Don't tell Darry, okay? Come on, Lana, you're my sister, and Two-Bit, be a buddy. I'll be well by tonight. I'll take a bunch of aspirins."

"All right," Two-Bit said reluctantly. "But Darry'll kill me if you're really sick and go ahead and fight anyway."

"I'm okay," Pony said, getting a little angry. "And if you keep your mouth shut, Darry won't know a thing."

"You know somethin'?" Two-Bit said as we were riding home on the bus. "You'd think you could get away with murder, living with your big brother and all, but Darry's stricter with you than your folks were, ain't he?"

"Yeah," Pony said, "but they'd raised two boys and Lana before me. Darry hasn't."

"You know, the only thing that keeps Darry from bein' a Soc is us."

"I know" I said. I had known it for a long time. In spite of not having much money, the only reason Darry couldn't be a Soc was us. The gang. Me, Soda, and Ponyboy. Darry was too smart to be a greaser. I don't know how I knew, I just did, and I was kind of sorry. I was silent most of the way home. I was thinking about the rumble. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. It was the same kind of helplessness I'd felt that night Darry yelled at Pony for going to sleep in the lot. I had the same deathly fear that something was going to happen that none of us could stop. Apparently, Pony had been thinking the same thing because as we got off, he said it.

"Tonight- I don't like it one bit." Two-Bit pretended not to understand.

"I never knew you to play chicken in a rumble before. Not even when you was a little kid." I knew he was trying to make Pony mad, but he took the bait anyway.

"I ain't chicken, Two-Bit Mathews, and you know it," Pony said angrily. "Ain't I a Curtis, same as Soda and Darry, even Lana?" Two-Bit couldn't deny this, so Ponybot continued: "I mean, I got an awful feeling something's gonna happen."

"Somethin' is gonna happen. We're gonna stomp the Socs' guts, that's what." Two-Bit knew what Ponyboy meant, but doggedly pretended not to. He seemed to feel that if you said something was all right, it immediately was, no matter what. He's been that way all his life, and I don't expect he'll change. Sodapop would have understood, and he and Pony would have tried to figure it out together, but Two-Bit just ain't Soda. Not by a long shot.

Cherry Valance was sitting in her Corvette by the vacant lot when we came by.

"Hi, Ponyboy," she said. "Hi, Two-Bit, Lana." Two-Bit stopped. Apparently Cherry had shown up there before during the week Johnny and Pony had spent in Windrixville.

"What's up with the big times?" What? Why was he talking to her like she was our friend?

She tightened the strings on her ski jacket. "They play your way. No weapons, fair deal. Your rules."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "Randy told me. He knows for sure."

Two-Bit turned and started home. "Thanks, Cherry." 'Thanks, Cherry?' What the hell was going on?

"Ponyboy, stay a minute," Cherry said. I stopped. Hell. No. Two-Bit sensed my anger and pulled me away before I made a scene.

"What the hell is going on? Why is she here?" I asked, freaking out.

"Didn't someone tell you? We got us a spy." He said with a stupid grin.

"Cherry Valance? She's a Soc!"

"She came over to the vacant lot one night. Shepard and some of his outfit and us were hanging around there when she drove up in her little ol' Sting Ray. Took a lot of nerve. Some of them was for jumping her then and there, her bein' the dead kid's girl and all, but I…I stopped them," I gaped. Two-Bit liked fights almost as much as Dally, why would he stop one? I was surprised at the anger I felt at the idea of his liking her. "She said she felt that the whole mess was her fault, and that she'd keep up with what was comin' off with the Socs in the rumble and would testify that the Socs were drunk and looking for a fight and that Johnny fought back in self-defense."

"So now she's a charity worker?" I asked venomously.

"Lana, she's actually a decent person."

"A person? She's not a person, she's a Soc! Her boyfriend almost killed Ponyboy and Johnny, and now you've got her spying for us? Why didn't I know about this until now anyway?" The anger was coming back. I couldn't stand the idea of anyone, much less Two-Bit liking her. She was a Soc broad, the enemy, the ones that made our lives hell. I didn't understand, and I knew I had to get out of here and cool off.

Ponyboy finally joined up, and we all walked home.

**I was going to put up the next chapter tonight, but I want to get it read over first so I won't (plus I want to make y'all wait because it's the rumble chapter XD ).**

**Read and review!**


	21. He's Losing It

**I don't own The Outsiders.**

**Here it is, the part everyone has been waiting for! Will Dallas die, or will he live? What will happen? Well, no matter what the outcome is, this is NOT the end! There is still more to come!  
**

It was almost six-thirty when Ponyboy and I got home. The rumble was set for seven, so we were late for supper, as usual. He always comes in late. We both just forgot what time it was. Darry had cooked dinner: baked chicken and potatoes and corn- three chickens because all four of us eat like horses. Especially Darry.

Pony hurried to take a shower and change clothes. The boys always got spruced up before a rumble. They wanted to show those Socs they weren't trash, that greasers were just as good as they were.  
"Soda," Pony called from the bathroom, "when did you start shaving?"

"When I was fifteen," he yelled back.

"When did Darry?"

'When he was thirteen. Why? You figgerin' on growing a beard for the rumble?"

"You're funny. We ought to send you in to the Reader's Digest. I hear they pay a lot for funny things."

Soda laughed and went right on playing poker with Steve in the living room. Darry had on a tight black T-shirt that showed every muscle on his chest and even the flat hard muscles of his stomach. I'd hate to be the Soc who takes a crack at him. Soda, Steve, and Pony had put on more hair oil than was necessary, but they wanted to show that they were greasers. Tonight we could be proud of it. Greasers may not have much, but they have a rep, that and long hair. Darry never went in for the long hair. His was short and clean all the time.

I sat in the armchair in the living room, waiting for the rest of the outfit to show up. Two-Bit would be the only guy coming because Johnny and Dallas were still in the hospital, but "the girlfriends" were coming over to help me with first aid. Me, Kathy, and Evie all in one room…it was going to be a long night.

Soda and Steve were playing cards and arguing as usual. Soda was keeping up a steady stream of wisecracks and clowning, and Steve had turned up the radio so loud that it almost broke my eardrums.

"You like fights, don't you, Soda?" Pony asked suddenly.

"Yeah, sure." He shrugged. "I like fights."

"How come?"

"I don't know." Soda looked at him, puzzled. "It's action. It's a contest. Like a drag race or a dance or something."

"Shoot," said Steve, "I want to beat those Socs' heads in. When I get in a fight I want to stomp the other guy good. I like it, too."

"How come you like fights, Darry?" Pony asked, looking up at him as he stood behind Pony, leaning in the kitchen doorway. Darry gave him one of those looks that hide what he's thinking, but

Soda piped up: "He likes to show off his muscles."

"I'm gonna show 'em off on you, little buddy, if you get any mouthier."

I digested what Soda had said. It was the truth. Darry liked anything that took strength, like weight lifting or playing football or roofing houses, even if he was proud of being smart too. Darry never said anything about it, but I knew he liked fights.

"I don't know if you ought to be in this rumble, Pony," Darry said slowly.

"How come? I've always come through before, ain't I?"

"Yeah," Darry said with a proud grin. "You fight real good for a kid your size. But you were in shape before. You've lost weight and you don't look so great, kid. You're tensed up too much."

"Shoot," said Soda, trying to get the ace out of his shoe without Steve's seeing him, "we all get tensed up before a rumble. Let him fight tonight. Skin never hurt anyone- no weapons, no danger."

"I'll be okay," Pony pleaded. "I'll get hold of a little one, okay?"

"Well, Johnny won't be there this time..." -Johnny and Pony sometimes ganged up on one big guy- "but then, Curly Shepard won't be there either, or Dally, and we'll need every man we can get."

"What happened to Shepard?" I asked, remembering Tim Shepard's kid brother. Curly, who was a tough, cool, hard-as-nails Tim in miniature. Curly was an average downtown hood, tough and not real bright, but I liked him. He could take anything.

"He's in the cooler," Steve said, kicking the ace out of Soda's shoe. "In the reformatory."  
Again? I thought.

"Let me fight, Darry. If it was blades or chains or something it'd be different. Nobody ever gets really hurt in a skin rumble." Pony said.

"Well"- Darry gave in- "I guess you can. But be careful, and if you get in a jam, holler and I'll get you out."

"I'll be okay," Pony said wearily. "How come you never worry about Sodapop as much? I don't see you lecturin' him."

"Man"- Darry grinned and put his arm across Soda's shoulders- "this is one kid brother I don't have to worry about"

Soda punched him in the ribs affectionately.

"This kiddo can use his head."

Sodapop looked down at us with mock superiority, but Darry went on: "You can see he uses it for one thing- to grow hair on." He ducked Soda's swing and took off for the door.  
Two-Bit stuck his head in the door just as Darry went flying out of it. Leaping as he went off the steps, Darry turned a somersault in mid-air, hit the ground, and bounced up before Soda could catch him.

"Welup," Two-Bit said cheerfully, cocking an eyebrow, "I see we are in prime condition for a rumble. Is everybody happy?"

"Yeah!" screamed Soda as he too did a flying somersault off the steps. He flipped up to walk on his hands and then did a no-hands cartwheel across the yard to beat Darry's performance. The excitement was catching. Screeching like an Indian, Steve went running across the lawn in flying leaps, stopped suddenly, and flipped backward. We could all do acrobatics because Darry had taken a course at the Y and then spent a whole summer teaching us every thing he'd learned on the grounds that it might come in handy in a fight. It did, but it also got Two-Bit and Soda jailed once. They were doing mid-air flips down a downtown sidewalk, walking on their hands and otherwise disturbing the public and the police. Leave it to those two to pull something like that.

"I am a greaser," Sodapop chanted. "I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!"

"Greaser... greaser... greaser..." Steve singsonged. "O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, no-count hood!"

"Juvenile delinquent, you're no good!" Darry shouted.

"Get thee hence, white trash," Two-Bit said in a snobbish voice. "I am a Soc. I am the privileged and the well-dressed. I throw beer blasts, drive fancy cars, break windows at fancy parties."

"And what do you do for fun?" I inquired in a serious, awed voice.

"I jump greasers!" Two-Bit screamed, and did a cart wheel.

My boys were certifiably insane, but at least they were quality entertainment. Now, all I had to do was wait for "the girlfriends" to come over.

I didn't have to wait long. Kathy was over in five minutes, looking surprisingly sober for someone dating Two-Bit. She grabbed a beer from the fridge, I lit a cigarette, and we waited for Evie to show up, and she showed up a few minutes later, beer already in hand.

The night was mostly just us watching television and Kathy trying to make conversation to ease the obvious tension between Evie and me. I can't stand her. All she did was drink her beer and eat our food. I tried to focus on the show but I was too distracted. Eventually, Evie just started talking to no one in particular. She talked about school, who was dating who, who was sleeping with who, but then she got on the topic of who was pregnant.

"I heard that Sandy got sent to school somewhere, and I couldn't figure out why, but then Janice told me that she got sent to live with her grandparents in Florida, and when I asked her why, she said it was because Sandy was pregnant! Can you believe it Kathy? Sandy's pregnant!" Then she turned to me. "Lana, Sandy and Soda were goin' pretty hard, do you know anything? 'Cause I heard that Soda wasn't even the father…" How. Dare. She. That was it, I'd had enough. I got up and walked out to the porch, it was cold, but I needed that. I needed to cool down before I punched the lights out of that bitch. Steve would probably be pissed, but I didn't care. I was at the end of my second cigarette when I saw faint lights coming up the street. In a few moments, I saw the outlines of the gang. I walked back into the house to announce that the gang was coming back. Kathy immediately got up to grab the first aid kit and Evie walked to the fridge for the beers. I grabbed a couple packs of cigarettes lying on the counter and waited.

The guys finally walked in. Two-Bit was hanging on Soda and holding one side of his face. He looked the worst off and was probably going to need stitches, but for the basic stuff he was Kathy's responsibility. Evie rushed to Steve's side and started fawning over him. It was disgusting how much he enjoyed it. Soda laid Two-Bit on the couch and Kathy attended to him.

And then Darry walked in. Darry always walked in last last. I realized then that Pony hadn't come in, so I went up and hugged Darry.

He wrapped his arms around me and managed to stroke my hair at the same time. "We won, Lana. We won!"

"Yea, you should have seen those—" Two-Bit started, but broke off. Kathy had gotten the peroxide out and was working on disinfecting him before I sewed him up. She apologized profusely, but he just smiled at her. It was sickeningly adorable.

"Where's Pony?" I asked aloud.

"Ran off with Dally after the fight," Two-Bit answered through clenched teeth.

"Dally? He came?" He was supposed to be in the hospital. He was supposed to be in the hospital!

"Well tell us what happened!" Evie yelled. She was the only one of the girls who was really excited.

The boys relayed to us the whole story about how we beat the Socs. There was hollering and cheers when necessary, and then the guys started telling their individual stories. I had just started on Two-Bit's stitches when he started regaling us with how he busted his knuckles.

"Dammit Two, you gotta stop movin' around!" I reprimanded.

Evie was trying to bandage Steve's side but he wasn't exactly cooperating due to the fact that he had three broken ribs. Darry had stuck a band-aid across his forehead and I wasn't exactly worried about him, he didn't have too much damage. Kathy was wiping the blood off of Soda's face since Sandy wasn't here.

We finally got all the guys fixed up and Darry walked Evie and Kathy home since he was the only one up to the job. We all wound up just sitting around reading the newspaper and smoking, waiting for Pony and Dally to come home.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We all looked up when Pony walked in, his eyes looking almost as feverish and bewildered as Steve's. Darry leaped to his feet.

"Where have you been?"

Oh, let's don't start that again, I thought.

He stopped suddenly. "Ponyboy, what's the matter?"

Pony looked at all of us, a little frightened. "Johnny... he's dead." His voice sounded strange. "We told him about beatin' the Socs and... I don't know, he just died." There was a stricken silence. I don't think any of us had realized how bad off Johnny really had been. Soda made a funny noise and looked like he was going to start crying. Two-Bit's eyes were closed and his teeth were clenched. My mouth hung open, I stopped breathing.

"Dallas is gone," Ponyboy said, turning to me. "He ran out like the devil was after him. He's gonna blow up. He couldn't take it."

How can I take it? I wondered. Dallas is tougher than I am. Why can I take it when Dally can't?

"So he finally broke." Two-Bit spoke everyone's feelings. "So even Dally has a breaking point."

I started shaking. Darry said something in a low voice to Soda.

"Ponyboy," Soda said softly, like he was talking to an injured animal, "you look sick. Sit down."

Pony backed up, just like a frightened animal, shaking his head. "I'm okay. I don't want to sit down."

Darry took a step toward him, but Pony backed away. "Don't touch me," he said. He all looked at him. He's losing it, I thought.

The phone rang, and after a moment's hesitation, Darry turned from Pony to answer it. He said "Hello" and then listened. He hung up quickly. "It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He's just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He'll be at the lot in a minute."

We all left the house at a dead run, even Steve, who grunted a lot because of his ribs.

I reached the lot before the rest, not because I was strong or a better runner, but because it was Dallas. Dallas was in trouble. I was in love with Dallas, and it was my job to help him. I had to help him. I was the only one that could.

Dally was running as hard as he could into the lot from the opposite direction and skidded to a halt at the circle of light under the street lamp. The rest of the guys stopped when they reached the lot, but I kept running.

"Dallas!" I yelled to get his attention. He turned to me, reaching into his waistband to pull out the gun that he had started carrying after Pony and Johnny ran off. My presence had startled him, but he still managed to pull out his gun and let the cops see. A shot rang out, and then another resonated in the otherwise silent night as I grabbed him around his neck, putting my body in front of his. He started falling, and I fell with him.

I had taken a bullet to the arm; it was the one meant for his heart. It had still hit him, but it didn't go all the way through thanks to my arm. He had another bullet in his stomach. Altogether, it wasn't enough to kill him instantly, but it would eventually. He laid on the ground, and I grabbed his hand and pulled it to my chest.

"Dally. Dallas. Dallas!"

He stirred, blinked, and tried to speak. "Lana," his voice was barely a whisper.

"Dally, no. No," the tears were streaming now, my reputation for not crying long forgotten. I put his hand on my cheek.

"Lana, I love you."

"No. No don't talk like that. You're not going anywhere. You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be okay," Dally couldn't leave me, not now. Not when he had been such an important part of my life for so long. He wasn't saying goodbye, he couldn't be. This was Dallas Winston. Nothing could touch him. He was mean, and tough, and had feelings for no one, except for me and Johnny. He couldn't be saying good-bye. "You're gonna be okay," I leaned down to him and placed my lips on his. He responded for an instant, but I could already feel the life begin to drain from him. "No. No, no, no, no," I grabbed my head in my hands. He can't be gone. He can't be. "No. Not Dallas. No!" I turned to the policemen. The men who had killed Dallas Winston. "You bastards! It wasn't even loaded! He was a kid! A kid!" I broke. I slumped down and laid across Dally's body. I was vaguely aware of the hand on my back. It tried to pull me away but I clung to Dallas. "No," I wailed. He was gone. Dallas was gone and he was never coming back. I would never see him again, never feel his touch, his kiss. He wouldn't come to my window tonight, or tomorrow, or the next night. It didn't make any sense. Those were the facts, and I knew them, but my brain couldn't comprehend them. I couldn't visualize my life without him, because it wasn't a life at all. It was barely an existence.

There were more arms around me, trying to pull me away, but I wouldn't let go. That would be like letting go of Dally, like forgetting. I couldn't do that. I couldn't forget, I wouldn't let myself forget. That was as impossible as him being gone, so I held on.

I let them take me away, eventually. I discovered it was Two-Bit and Darry who were pulling me away. Two-Bit couldn't carry me, so Darry did. He held me bridal-style and took me home. I clung to his shirt and sobbed. I didn't care about the growing wetness of his shirt. I didn't care about the horrific sounds I was making. I didn't care that I was becoming hysteric. I didn't care about anything. The only thing I was thinking about was the image of Dally, laying in the street, with blood pooling around him.

**...Um...Yea...There it is. To be honest, I'm kind of fearing for my life right now because pretty much every review I've gotten has said something like, "Please don't let Dally die! I'll be upset!" and a bunch of upset fangirls is NOT something I would like to face. I don't want to die at such a young age.**

**Anyway, Review. For some reason I feel like I might get a few flames for this...But just remember! This is NOT THE END! There is more to come! And a possible sequel-ish thing! Don't give up on me just because I killed off a character! Oh, and I know I said that this would get close to 35 chapters, but I just don't see that happening. Expect 1-5 more chapters and an Epilogue (can you tell I like to change my mind?). Anyway, thanks for keeping with this story and please don't quit on me now!  
**


	22. Distraction

**Okay, so I'm really glad that no one killed me. It really made me happy. So here's the next chapter! Yay!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****The Outsiders****.**

Darry carried me the entire way home. He laid me on the couch while he tried to staunch the freely flowing blood. As soon as he pressed the towel to my arm, I cried out in pain. I hadn't felt the physical pain because I was so distracted by the emotional pain, but now the intensity of the former shut out the latter from my mind. It didn't feel good, but it diverted my attention.

"Aw, shit. Guys, I've never had to deal with a bullet wound before. I think we gotta take her to the hospital or somethin'," Darry said.

"Dally would've known what to do…" Steve mumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear. This made my sobbing increase. Asshole.

"Damn it, Steve!" Darry yelled when I started resisting his touch, which only made me bleed more. "Soda, go check on Pony." Pony? What was wrong with Ponyboy?

I must have voiced my concern because Darry answered. "He passed out after…He passed out. Soda's looking after him. He should be fine. You're the one I'm most concerned about."

"Darry, am I really…going to…the hospital?" I asked between sobs. When he didn't answer for a moment, I looked at his face. He was somber, which meant that he was thinking about how much that would cost, then shame crossed his face, meaning that he was ashamed that he was even thinking about that and not my well-being.

He wrapped the towel around my arm again, and I sucked in a breath.

"Damn, Lana. You're really hurt, aren't you?" He asked, a half-smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't think this is the best time for jokes, Darry," I gasped through the pain.

He sighed and scooped me up in his arms.

"Soda, I'm taking Lana. You stay with Ponyboy. I'll call you later," Darry yelled. "Two-Bit, come help me," Darry carried me to the truck, while Two-Bit slid into the passenger seat. Darry handed me over to Two-Bit and he positioned me on his lap so that we were both comfortable. Darry leaned down to look at Two-Bit. "Make sure she stays awake and keep pressure on her arm," he directed.

I gasped when Two-Bit's hand wrapped around my wound. It hurt. It hurt so much.

"Shh, Lana," he whispered soothingly into my ear. "Shh, you'll be fine. It's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be okay."

We arrived soon and I was rushed into an examination room. The bullet had passed all the way through, thankfully not hitting anything important. They ran some blood tests and put me in a room for the night. As soon as I walked in I broke down again. This was the room that Dallas had been in just a few hours ago. The air still smelled of cigarette smoke (much to the obvious displeasure of the attending nurse). I couldn't take it. It was too much.

Darry carried me to the bed and laid me down. Thankfully the bedding had been changed and didn't have his trademark smell. This calmed me tears, and eventually I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up it was light. It was awfully quiet. Too quiet. I mean, our house just isn't naturally quiet. The radio's usually going full blast and the TV is turned up loud and people are wrestling and knocking over lamps and tripping over the coffee table and yelling at each other. Something was wrong, but I couldn't quite figure it out. Something had happened... I couldn't remember what. I blinked at Soda in a bewildered fashion. He was sitting on the edge of the bed watching me.  
"Soda..."- my voice sounded weak and hoarse- "what's-" and then I remembered. The past night's events rushed back to me. The rumble, the police, Dallas, the hospital. I remembered it all and I commenced crying again.

"Lana, Lana, shh, Lana. It's gonna be fine."

"I'm sick of everyone telling me that! It's not gonna be fine! It's never gonna be fine ever again!" I instantly regretted yelling at Soda like that, but I felt like I was suffocating. I hadn't been alone in a while and I just needed a little time to myself. But that scared me because at least when I was around people I was distracted.

He sighed and walked out of the room, but I wasn't alone for long because a doctor walked in right after him.

"Good morning Ms. Reynolds. And how are we doing today?" he asked in an overly happy voice.

"Just lovely," I muttered sarcastically as he looked at the papers on his clipboard.

"Mmhm, that's good to hear," he said, making it obvious that he wasn't listening to me. "Well, your blood work came back. Everything's fine, but we did find something a little surprising." My face dropped. Surprises in a hospital were never good. "It turns out that you're pregnant. Congratulations!" he smiled and walked out. I was frozen. I couldn't move. This was unbelievable. Soda opened the door and poked his head through. I burst into tears.

"I'm sorry," I cried, "I'm so, so sorry."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Darry and Soda rushed into my room to see what was wrong. I finally gasped it out and their reaction wasn't helpful. Darry jumped up and started pacing the room in an angry fashion while Soda couldn't stop staring at me. I wasn't sure which one was worse. Darry couldn't stand still, but Soda couldn't move.

"Come on Soda," Darry began, "we've gotta go check on Pony." He took Soda's arm and pulled up while he gave me a disappointed and angry stare. It was almost as if he was disgusted to look at me. I didn't blame him.

I knew I wouldn't be able to stay in the hospital much longer. We couldn't afford it. Apparently Darry realized this, because Mrs. Mathews came soon thereafter to bust me out of my own personal hell. I wasn't resistant to leave. I wanted out.

She walked me home and I told the wonderful news, and it was then that I realized something. It might not be Dally's.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We finally made it to my house and I silently walked up the porch steps. I silently opened the door and it was unusually quiet. The TV was on and Two-Bit and Steve were watching it, Darry was in his usual chair reading the paper, but Soda was nowhere to be seen. Everyone glanced at me but then assumed their original positions. They were ashamed of me. They knew, and they were ashamed of me.

My gaze lingered on Two-Bit. What if it was his? What would he do about Kathy? Would he stay with me? Help me? I couldn't think about that now, not in my frazzled state-of-mind.

I walked to my bedroom and sat on the bed, facing the window, just staring. So many memories. So many goddamn memories associated with that godforsaken window. I could feel myself breaking; feel my heart shatter all over again. I was beyond crying. Sobbing wouldn't make a difference now. Crying wouldn't be a release.

I walked into the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, I noticed something, the razor that Darry and Soda used. I was instantly reminded of when Darry brought me home from the lot and the sick relief I felt. I picked up the razor in my hand, forgetting that it was still covered in soap. The razor slipped from my hand and sliced the tip of my finger. I sucked in a breath. I watched the blood trickle out of the cut, and it distracted me. I forgot about everything, the pain was the focus of my attention now. I squeezed my finger, increasing the blood and pain. _More_. I Thought. So I picked up the razor and made the cut bigger, deeper. I rolled my head back as the release washed over me. I looked at myself in the mirror._ What's happening to me?_

**Okay, so it's kinda short, but I wasn't too sure about something so I wanted a reaction from readers. I haven't asked for story-changing opinions so far, but I was having trouble deciding so give me your reactions! Please!**


	23. Foutain in the Night

**Okay, so I'm not really sure about this chapter and it was really hard to write so I would really like a lot of feedback on this one. **

**I recently got a review saying that Lana seemed like a Mary-Sue and that got me thinking. I really don't like to do this, but I think I should. Lana isn't a Mary-Sue (at least, this is how I see it), her big flaw is that she's impulsive. She doesn't really think before she makes a big decision, this is also why she's a kinda slutty.**

**Well, now that I've explained that, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.  
**

The hearing wasn't anything like I thought it would be. Besides Darry, Soda, Pony, and me, nobody was there except Randy, his parents, Cherry Valance and her parents and a couple of the other guys that had jumped Johnny and Pony that night. I don't know what I expected the whole thing to be like- I guess I've been watching too many Perry Mason shows. There was a doctor there and he had a long talk with the judge before the hearing. Afterwards, I asked Darry what he was there for, and he said that he was talking to the judge about Pony's "confused mental state." I didn't even know that Pony wasn't doing well. I must have been too wrapped up in my thoughts.

First Randy was questioned. He looked a little nervous. All the Socs told the same story and stuck mainly to the truth. Cherry told them what had happened before and after Johnny and Pony had been jumped- I think I saw a couple of tears slide down her cheeks, but I'm not sure. Her voice was sure steady even if she was crying. The judge questioned everyone carefully, but nothing real emotional or exciting happened like it does on TV. He asked Darry, Soda, and me a little bit about Dally. He asked us if he was he a real good buddy of ours, and Darry said, "Yes, sir;' looking straight at the judge, not flinching; but Soda looked at me like he was sentencing Pony to the electric chair before he gave the same answer. It took me a little while to answer that question. I started crying a little and managed to choke out an answer.

I thought the judge would never get around to questioning Pony. Man, I was scared almost stiff by the time he did. And you know what? They didn't ask him a thing about Bob's getting killed. All the judge did was ask him if he liked living with Darry, if he liked school, what kind of grades he made, and stuff like that. Then he said Pony was acquitted and the whole case was closed. Just like that. Didn't even give him a chance to talk much.

I wish I could say that everything went back to normal, but it didn't. Especially me. I didn't really do anything or go out anymore. I would sit in one spot on the sofa ad wouldn't move except to go to the bathroom. Sometimes I might eat with the rest of the gang at the table, but even then I would sit there for a long time after we had finished eating. I mostly stayed in the room, though. Staring out the window. I did that a lot, staring out the window.

The house was quieter than usual. We didn't wrestle or fight anymore. Evie and Kathy would come over to the house sometimes with the guys and I always went back into my room. I didn't want to be around them. I didn't want to see the pity in their eyes. I didn't need pity. I needed Dallas.

Even though I sat at the table with the family, I had quit eating. I used to eat like a horse, but all of a sudden I wasn't hungry. I was lousing up my schoolwork, too, especially English. I used to do pretty well in English because Pony would read over my work and fix things, but he had been pretty messed up about the…incident, too, so he wasn't really in any shape to help anyone out with schoolwork. Now I was lucky to get a D on a composition.

Ponyboy was pretty much in the same boat that I was, but he at least tried to be normal. I still sat around all day. I went to school, but I was just going through the motions. I wasn't really trying anymore. It wasn't my priority anymore. I had bigger things to worry about, like the baby.

The doctor said that I would have to go back to the doctor's every few weeks to make sure everything was going well. Darry was worried about expenses, but then Kathy reminded him that it would cost more if something went wrong, and that shut him up.

Every once in a while the guys would take me and Pony out to try and loosen us up. Try and get us back to normal. So Tuesday at lunch hour Pony and I met Two-Bit and Steve out in the back parking lot and we drove over to a little neighborhood grocery store to buy cigarettes and Cokes and candy bars. The store was the grease hang-out and that was about all we ever had for lunch. The Socs were causing a lot of trouble in the school cafeteria- throwing silverware and stuff- and everybody tried to blame it on us greasers. The guys got a big laugh out of that. Greasers rarely even eat in the cafeteria.  
Pony and I were sitting on the fender of Steve's car, smoking and drinking a Pepsi while he and Two-Bit were inside talking to some girls, then a car drove up and three Socs got out. I just sat there and looked at them and took another swallow of the Pepsi. I wasn't scared. It was the oddest feeling in the world. I didn't feel anything- scared, mad, or any thing. Just zero.  
"You're the guy that killed Bob Sheldon," one of them said to Ponyboy. "And he was a friend of ours. We don't like nobody killing our friends, especially greasers."

Pony busted the end off his bottle and held on to the neck and tossed away his cigarette "You get back into your car or you'll get split."  
They looked kind of surprised, and one of them backed up.  
"I mean it," he hopped off the car. "I've had about all I can take from you guys." Pony started toward them, holding the bottle the way Tim Shepard holds a switch- out and away from himself, in a loose but firm hold. They got into their car and drove off.  
"You really would have used that bottle, wouldn't you?" Two-Bit had been watching from the store doorway. "Steve and me were backing you, but I guess we didn't need to. You'd have really cut them up, huh?"  
"I guess so," Pony said with a sigh. This wasn't good. Pony had never acted like this before. He couldn't be getting hard. He couldn't be getting like…him.

"Ponyboy, listen, don't get tough. You're not like the rest of us and don't try to be..." Two-Bit began, but stopped as soon as he realized that I was still there. "What in the world are you doing?" I asked incredulously. It was the most consecutive words I had said to anybody since…that night.

Pony noticed this and looked up at me. "Picking up the glass."  
I stared at me for a second, then grinned. "You little sonofagun," I said in a relieved voice. He was still Ponyboy. He just went on picking up the glass from the bottle end and put it in a trash can.

I went back to the bathroom when I got home that night. I had to, I was feeling overwhelmed. I grabbed the razor from the counter and held it to my finger and very gently slid it across the surface. I relished the pain and the relief I felt at not having to remember. I looked down at my stomach and noticed the smallest bump. It looked like I had just eaten a really big meal, but I knew I hadn't. I felt disgusted. How could I live with myself knowing that I had Dally's bastard child. I knew it would look just like him. I would have to look at him everyday for the rest of my life and know that Dallas wasn't coming back. I would have a daily reminder that he was a part of my life.

I walked out of the bathroom and back to my room. I opened the window. It was getting dark outside but it wasn't too cold. I swung my legs out the window and hopped down to the ground. I started walking to the park, the park where all this mess began.

I saw the fountain first, gleaming in the moonlight. I walked to it and sat down on the edge. I looked around and memories came flooding back. I saw his face and tears started flooding. It was like a dam had collapsed and was letting all the water out. I laid on my side and continued crying. I don't know how long, I stayed there, but I still wasn't out of tears when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Lana," It was Two-Bit. He sounded relieved.

I tried to hide my face, hide the tears, but he just moved the hair from my face to get a good look at me.

"I just—I just miss him so much, Two. More and more everyday," I said.

"I know," he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his side. He held me there as I finished crying.

"We should get back, Darry's gonna kill me when he finds out," I said, wiping tears from my face.

"Yea. Lana, this isn't a good time or anything, but I don't know if we'll get the chance to be alone anytime soon, so. God, I feel like a dick for even having to ask but, uh, is it, the baby I mean, is it, uh…" he was stumbling over his words. It would be adorable if the question wasn't so serious.

"No. It's not," I answered.

"Are you sure?"

"I—Yea, I'm sure."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"Let's just get you home." He picked me up in his arms and carried me all the way home.


	24. A New Chapter

**Oaky, so...this is the last chapter before the Epilogue which I should put up later tonight. This was NOT the original ending but I think I like this one better. The reason that it took so long for this to come out is because I was having some problems writing this chapter and just getting from here to the original ending and as I was writing this, I realized that this was a great way to end it, not just the chapter, but the whole thing (NOTE: this isn't REALLY the end. There's still the Epilogue and what happens after this story will be told in the sequel-OTHER NOTE: it might be a little while until the sequel is actually posted because I still need to work it out completely so I will most likely be dabbling in another fandom because I have several more stories ready for it and they're farther along than the sequel to this story)**

"Two-Bit," I said, "promise me. Promise me that you won't tell anyone, please."

"Lana," he began, but I stopped him.

"Please, just don't tell anyone. I'll be fine, I can handle this, but Pony- Ponyboy can't. He- he needs them more than I do."

He sighed, but then complied.

The rest of the walk was silent, which was fine with me. I could feel the awkwardness in the air. I just wanted to get home, so I might be able to get some sleep.

"Look after yourself, okay?"

I nodded, but looked down. A few tears were leaking out of my eyes. "Yeah, I will." _The cutting. It has to stop._ I thought.

He pulled my face up to his level. "It ain't just about you anymore," he said, placing a hand on my stomach.

I nodded again.

He started to pull his hand away to leave, but I grabbed it. "Stay, please." I looked at him with what I hoped was a tired, pleading expression.

"Alright."

I pulled him into a hug and whispered a thank you in his ear. "Can we sneak around back? I don't think I can deal with Darry right now."

He nodded and we walked around my house, his arm around me to shield me from the cold.

Once we were inside, I kicked off my shoes and crawled into bed with Two-Bit following me.

I turned to face him. "No funny business, okay?"

"What, don't you trust me?" Two-Bit said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Not really."

He wedged his leg between mine. "You probably shouldn't."

"Two-Bit," I said in an exhausted tone.

"What? He asked as he gently kissed my neck.

"D—don't."

"Why?"

"I'm just a little emotionally compromised right now," I paused, "I might not make you stop."

He stopped and looked at me. "And why is that a bad thing?" He asked with a grin. I gave him a hard look and he sighed before untangling himself from me. He rolled over on to his side and wrapped his arm around my stomach. I instantly relaxed into his touch, relishing the feeling of being wrapped in someone's arms, but all too quickly to feeling went away. These weren't his arms. They weren't quite right.

This train of thought quickly lead to tears. Two-Bit, unfortunately, noticed this.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he rubbed my stomach, the same one that held Dally's baby.

"I don't think I'll ever be okay again," I answered.

He kissed the top of my head. "I'll make sure you are," he mumbled into my hair.

I wouldn't admit it then, but I knew that that night marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

**Kinda cheesy? Yes. Short? Definitely. The right way to end this? Well I think so, and remember: there's still the Epilogue and more of the story will be told later.**

**In retro spec, I could've just combined this chapter and the previous one but originally, this was going to be a MUCH longer chapter. So I hope you've enjoyed the ride and I hope to have the Epilogue up really soon (like, tonight).  
**


	25. Epilogue

**So here it is! I made good on my promise and am now putting up the Epilogue. I think it sums up what it needs to without giving away everything that happens later.**

Two-Bit wound up being my saving grace in the end. He helped me when my brothers and friends couldn't, and he was there for me even when I didn't need him. He held me when I cried and when I was finished, he kissed the leftover tears away.

We didn't become officially together until two months before the baby was born. I still wasn't completely over Dally, but I didn't think of him constantly and I rarely cried when I thought of him.

Slowly but surely, I started to get my life back. I went out more and even secured myself a waitressing job at the Dingo for after the baby was born. I knew that I would have to quit school. I was going to have to bring in some money if we were going to have another mouth to feed, but I was proved wrong by Two-Bit's mom. She insisted that I move in with them because "that Curtis house is no place to raise a baby. It's full of men and disgusting." Her words, not mine, but I finally agreed and so did my brothers. I still quit school so that I would be able to look after the baby (which was only one month away at this point). Two-Bit couldn't find the motivation to do any kind of work, so he decided to make up for it by looking after the baby while I was at work since I would just have an early-afternoon shift (Mrs. Mathews and I made sure that Jane, Two-Bit's sister, was always around when I couldn't be there).

When the big day finally came, Jane called over to my brothers' house so that we could all go to the hospital together. Darry drove while Mrs. Mathews and Two-Bit held my hands the whole time.

We arrived at the hospital after what seemed like an eternity and I was ready to just get this thing out of me by then. Once we got there, there was the argument as to who would be in the delivery room with me. It was finally decided that Mrs. Mathews (because she had been through this twice before), Two-Bit (because he was my boyfriend, afterall), and Darry (so that he could "help Two when he fainted." I find this to be further proof that Steve is an asshole.). Ponyboy and Jane were deemed too young, Soda too…Soda, and I just didn't want Steve in there with me.

What happened next were the longest, and most painful 18 hours of my life. Two-Bit and Mrs. Mathews held my hands and didn't complain when I squeezed too hard during contractions. Two-Bit mostly said soothing words, Mrs. Mathews spoke words of encouragement, and Darry held my hair back when I threw up.

I have to say, that I was not very calm during the ordeal. I screamed profanities, cursed everyone's name- especially Dally's for doing this to me, and prayed more than I have in my whole life. But when the baby was born, it was all worth it.

It was a boy, no surprise. I don't think that Dally was capable of creating anything else. Curtis (the lovely baby's full name being Curtis Reynolds Mathews) looked exactly like Dally, except for the hair, Curtis had my hair.

But those eyes. They were unmistakably Dally's and I swore then that they would never have that same hard look that Dally's did. Curtis would have a better life. He wouldn't be a JD, a greaser, yes. I couldn't help that very much. But they would never look like Dally's eyes. I wouldn't let that happen.

** Well, there it is. Baby Curtis has three last names. I couldn't figure out what to name him and I was actually thinking Dylan Mathews (I just couldn't help myself) but I wanted to by historically accurate, and Dylan wasn't a popular name until the seventies (any guesses as to why?) to I settled on combining all the last names of Lana's family, and really, I think that's something she would have done too (P.S. I looked it up and Curtis actually WAS a popular name back then).**

**So there it is. The final chapter of Come and Gone. I hope you enjoyed the ride and will continue to read about Lana's life in the sequel. I also hope that your following (or stalking, depending) of my doesn't stop here. I will continue to write (even if it isn't this fandom) and i really hope that you all read my Avatar: The Last Airbender story Love the Way You Lie. You don't have to know about the series because the story is about the characters kids more than them although it does come back to the main characters of the original later on.**

**Thank you again for reading and look out for my name because I'm far from done writing.  
**


	26. SEQUEL!

Hey guys! Um, so this isn't, like, a new chapter to the story or anything, but I thought I should let everyone know that the sequel IS up. It's called _In __the__ Heat __of __the__ Night_, and it's about Stacy (Lana's friend). Once you read it, you'll see that it's different from _Come __and__ Gone_, but it _is_ the sequel, so drama of Lana, Two-Bit, and Curtis will be continued, but the story's focus will be on Stacy.

So since you've been such a loving and loyal group of readers, I've decided to tell you more about the sequel!

Stacy is a prostitute and she's dating Jazz (that part is in _Come __and __Gone,_ Jazz, not the prostitution). She meets a really straight-laced Soc guy (you'll see how) and they fall in lurve. Now, before anyone goes all "Oh my gosh! That's like, SO overdone and stupid!" well so was the basic plot of this one and I wouldn't say that it turned out very predictably, so I'm not going to make the sequel really stupid and predictable.

So, I hope that you all come and read the sequel! I hope to see your reviews!


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